Initially called “A11Pl3z “, the interstellar object now renowned “3i/Atlas” was classified as “comet” by the center of minor planets of the International Astronomical Union.
“A comet is An object that is mainly composed of ice, it is a mixture of ice and dust“explains Yaël Nazé, Astrophysicist FNRS at the University of Liège. “QUand the object approaches a hot source, here the sun, the ice will be sublimated, therefore pass to the gas state. This degassing will start to produce a kind of small cloud, a small fog around the object itself and create over time a cometary tail. “ The comet appears as A small blurred spot on the images.
Its trajectory will be followed closely in the coming months. We already know that there is no risk of collision with the earth: it “will fly deep into the solar system, just passing inside the orbit of Mars “, Specifies to AFP the head of the planetary defense of the European Space Agency (ESA), Richard Moissl.
It is in March that the comet will pass near Mars, and it is also during this period that she will be closest to the sun, at a distance that “will still be twice as large as the Earth-Sun Distance”comments Yaël Nazé. Its speed will then reach 68 km/sec, in other words 245,000 km/h, depending on current estimates.
No risk that it remains captive, the comet is too fast and its trajectory “Too hyperbolic”. It will therefore only pass through our solar system, during a period of time counting all the same in years. The period during which it will be possible to observe it will only last a few months. “When the object The sun will move away, it will heat up less and therefore little by little its activity will decrease. At one point, we will no longer be able to look at him. “
