It is called 3i/Atlas but at this stage, it is unknown the nature, the precise dimension of this object or even its shape, if it is a rocky asteroid or an icy comet, for example. This Tuesday, July 1, an interstellar object was discovered by the Atlas team (which provides astronomical surveys funded by NASA and managed by the University of Hawaii), based in Chile.
The object rushes towards our sun at 60 kilometers per second.
“This thing comes at such an incredible speed that absolutely nothing in the solar system could have caused this,” said Jeti Horner, astronomer at the University of South Queensland.
An estimated size 40 km in diameter
It is a celestial body from another stellar system that would currently cross ours. The harmless object is currently near Jupiter, hundreds of millions of kilometers, and should reach around 2025 the orbit of Mars. He should not approach the sun beyond this stage, according to scientists.
Astronomers may have just discovered the third interstellar object passing through the Solar System!
ESA’s Planetary Defenders are observing the object, provisionally known as #A11pl3Zright now using telescopes around the world.
— ESA Operations (@esaoperations) July 2, 2025
The latter carry out checks “using telescopes around the world” to confirm their conclusions. NASA has also monitored the situation. The astrophysicist Josep Trigo-Rodriguez, of the Institute of Space Sciences near Barcelona, ​​Spain, estimates its size about 40 kilometers in diameter.
Is it a comet?
This Wednesday, July 2, scientists from the Minor Planet Center in the United States, on Wednesday, confirmed that it was an interstellar object. They also suggested that the object was a comet, due to images showing that he had a short tail.
It is the third known interstellar object that crosses our solar system, the European Space Agency announced on July 2. The first interstellar visitor dates back to 2017. Baptized Oumuamua (“scout” in Hawaiian), he is now listed as a comet. The second interstellar object, named 2i/Borissov and spotted in 2019, is also a comet.
