A newly discovered interstellar comet poses no threat to Earth, but a group coordinated by NASA plans to observe it to help our ability to monitor any future objects that could prove dangerous.
He kitecalled 3I/ATLAS, it is the third known system interstellar object that has come through our solar system. As it heads deeper into the solar system before leaving our cosmic neighborhood sometime between November 27, 2025 and January 27, 2026, the International Asteroid Warning Network is launching a campaign to observe the comet.
The network notes that comets are especially difficult to observe, because their tails and “atmospheres” (comas) make it difficult to estimate their overall brightness, which in turn affects predictions of their trajectory.
Knowing the trajectory of an object allows astronomers to predict how close it will come. Land. In this case, 3I/ATLAS will not approach us. But their relative proximity (about 1.8 astronomical units, or distances between the Sun and Earth, at their closest point) is good enough for observations with small telescopes.
“The campaign will target comet 3I/ATLAS (C/2025 N1) to exercise the observing community’s ability to extract accurate astrometry,” reads a statement. project notice Tuesday (Oct. 21) at the Minor Planet Center, which is a branch of the International Astronomical Union that catalogs and tracks small objects in space.
Citizen scientists can join. If you are interested, please register at this link no later than November 7; Since the notice does not indicate the time of day, we recommend registering as soon as possible. The program includes a workshop on November 10 and regular teleconferences during and after the observation period.
The International Asteroid Warning Network he calls himself a “global collaboration of astronomers and asteroid modelers” and was formed following the recommendations of the United Nations and its space mission planning advisory group “for an international response to the near-Earth object (NEO) impact threat.”
POTLike other parts of the US government, it is able to perform essential tasks despite the current government shutdown. Observations of comets and asteroids are considered a priority topic since there is a small possibility that any of them represent a threat to Earth, so NASA continues track and publish information about them.
The agency has undertaken decades of searching to see if there are any potentially dangerous objects threatening our planet. Despite extensive sky surveys, no imminent threats have been found. But NASA and its network of partner telescopes continue the search, just in case.
