New data from the interstellar object 3I/Atlas

This object was captured for the first time on June 14, but at that time it could not be identified as coming from interstellar space. It was believed that it would be another comet in the solar system. After that date, numerous telescopes around the world have collected data and on July 1, specifically, the Atlas survey telescope in Río Hurtado, Chile, reported the key data and the first key observations that confirmed that it was a comet from interstellar space.

The James Webb is going to focus in August and December of this year 2025 towards this object, with this we will surely have the most precise data and the most concrete images of it.

The Vera Rubin was also going to focus very soon, at the end of this month of July and even so we already have new data regarding the information that this telescope initially captured.

Asteroids differ from comets because asteroids are made of rock and dust, they are dry, while asteroids have frozen gases, they also have water, but they also have many more frozen elements and are much more abundant.

The point is that at the moment we have more specific data on the size of this object, initially it was said to be about 20 km in diameter, but the new data reduces the size of its core to 11.2 km. This is thanks to initial observations from the Vera C. Rubin observatory. 11.2 km is a considerable size for a comet at least by solar system standards. This size also makes it the largest interstellar object discovered to date.

We are discovering these interstellar objects due to their trajectory and speed, a speed that means they shoot out of the solar system, that is, we see them enter at high speed and leave the solar system, therefore, they are not gravitationally tied to the sun, but it is suspected that the sun, the sun's gravity has captured interstellar objects in the past, in fact, years ago a study was published on a fairly large asteroid, it is about 4 km in diameter and is in the orbit of Jupiter and according to this study it would not only be an interstellar object, but it could be at least as old as the solar system.

Keep in mind that beyond Pluto there will surely also be many comets, perhaps entire dwarf planets that do not belong to the solar system, that were not formed in the solar system, but were perhaps captured because they were orbiting stars that passed close to the sun and were trapped by the solar gravity. They may be interstellar dwarf planets or interstellar comets that were also trapped by the solar gravity.