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The Conversation
The Conversation
Sara Webb, Lecturer, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology

Could the latest ‘interstellar comet’ be an alien probe? Why spotting cosmic visitors is harder than you think

Sun Avi Loeb our Solar System Solar System Earth Jen Miller Jupiter Mars
Comet 3I/ATLAS International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/K. Meech/Jen Miller/Mahdi Zamani, CC BY

On July 1, astronomers spotted an unusual high-speed object zooming towards the Sun. Dubbed 3I/ATLAS, the surprising space traveller had one very special quality: its orbit showed it had come from outside our Solar System.

For only the third time ever, we had discovered a true interstellar visitor. And it was weird.

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