Posted on 07/22/2025 10:50:49 AM PDT by DFG
Earth's famous Hubble Telescope has just revealed the first images of a mysterious interstellar object racing through our solar system.
Spotted on Monday, Hubble has helped astronomers confirm that the massive, high-speed visitor is a comet from a distant part of the Milky Way galaxy.
First spotted in late June, the comet named 3I/ATLAS has been on an 800-million-year journey to reach this solar system.
The new images from Hubble captured what appears to be an icy tail that's ejecting rocky material from its 12-mile-long core.
Those observations were reinforced by a new study published Tuesday morning which revealed 3I/ATLAS has water ice present in its coma, the luminous cloud of gas and dust surrounding a comet's nucleus.
That revelation about 3I/ATLAS also confirmed that life-giving water exists far beyond our solar system, carried by comets throughout the cosmos, and potentially spreading the building blocks of life to other worlds.
The giant comet has become the third interstellar object recorded by astronomers entering the solar system, joining Oumuamua in 2017 and the comet Borisov in 2019.
It will make its closest pass to Earth on December 17 as it speeds through the solar system at 41 miles per second (roughly 150,000 miles per hour).
The new study published on the pre-print server arXiv, also revealed that the comet's coma is made up of 30 percent water ice and 70 percent of a dust similar to a type of meteorite (Tagish Lake) that contains organic materials.
While the study didn't detect organic molecules directly, the reddish dust in 3I/ATLAS resembles D-type asteroids, which are known to sometimes carry simple organic compounds like amino acids or hydrocarbons.
These are the kinds of molecules that could, under the right conditions, contribute to the chemistry needed for life on a distant planet.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
There is a greater than 50% chance that a commie will hit NYC.
He's just doing a fly-by to promote the Fantastic Four movie.
They let associate producers do anything these days.
I wish it would hurry up.
Don’t worry about it- the crew of space station Gamma Three will fly to it, set charges and blow it up.
Ray Walston would, except he’s dead.
Gang Members and Trans Womyn Hardest Hit
Thunberg fell out of a plane?
I'm only 6' tall ... I got this! Pulse slowing ... blood pressure dropping ...
*LOL*
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