For the better part of a decade, space enthusiasts have scanned the horizon for the next 'interstellar interloper'—a celestial wanderer from a distant star system passing through our neck of the woods. First came the enigmatic 'Oumuamua in 2017, followed by the comet Borisov in 2019.
Now, a third stranger has arrived, and it is currently being poked and prodded by some of the most sophisticated hardware humanity has ever launched into the deep. This latest visitor, 3I/ATLAS, has proven to be the fastest and most eccentric of the three, sporting a record-breaking orbital eccentricity of 6.14 and a top speed of 153,000 miles per hour reached during its perihelion passage.
