Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Puzzles Astronomers with Unexpected Size
Astronomers are reevaluating current models of interstellar object populations following the discovery of an unusually large comet, 3I/ATLAS, first observed on October 3. New observations suggest the comet’s nucleus is significantly larger than anticipated,raising questions about the prevalence of similar objects.
the comet’s considerable size – estimated at approximately three miles in diameter – presents a challenge to existing theories. If comets like ‘Oumuamua are common,and represent the smaller end of the interstellar object spectrum,scientists expected to have detected many more than just one object of 3I/ATLAS’s scale.
Avi Loeb, of Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and his colleagues propose that current understanding of planetary system debris may be incomplete. Upcoming observations utilizing the HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and data gathered during a close approach to jupiter by NASA’s Juno spacecraft in March, are expected to provide further insights into the comet’s surface area and characteristics.
“I can’t wait for this data!” Loeb told The Debrief. “The way to tell the difference between a dogmatist and a curious scientist is by flooding them with data.”
The discovery of 3I/ATLAS challenges preconceptions about the types and quantities of objects inhabiting interstellar space. The team’s findings are detailed in their paper, “Upper limit on the Non-Gravitational Acceleration and Lower Limits on the Nucleus Mass and Diameter of 3I/ATLAS,” available online at https://lweb.cfa.harvard.edu/~loeb/CLV.pdf.
