Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Novosibirsk State University –
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Comet 3I/ATLAS is the third interstellar object discovered by the American ATLAS automated telescope system. Unlike the previous interstellar objects—the asteroid 1I/Oumuamua and comet 2I/Borisov—which remained very faint throughout their entire period of visibility, comet 3I/ATLAS is comparatively bright, reaching a maximum brightness of approximately 10th magnitude, making it observable even with amateur telescopes, at least with relatively large ones.
The main feature of this comet is the pronounced hyperbolicity of its orbit, which makes it an interstellar object. The shape of an object's orbit around its center of mass is determined by its eccentricity. If the eccentricity is less than one, the orbit is closed; it can be closer to circular when the eccentricity is near zero, or, conversely, an elongated ellipse if the eccentricity approaches one. The orbits of objects gravitationally "bound" to the Sun are either elliptical (like planets, asteroids, and periodic comets) or near-parabolic. The latter case refers to non-periodic or long-period comets from the hypothetical Oort cloud, which is believed to be a cluster of cometary nuclei surrounding the Solar System at a distance of approximately 100,000 AU. The orbits of comets that fly from this cloud into the solar system have an eccentricity value of about 1 (i.e. their orbit is very close in shape to a parabola), which means that, while in the Oort cloud, they have a near-zero velocity relative to the Sun and generally move around the center of our Galaxy together with the Sun.
Comet 3I/ATLAS has an eccentricity of 6.14. This is the highest eccentricity ever discovered for a celestial body. It indicates that the comet was already moving at a fairly high velocity when it passed through the Oort Cloud, which increased further as it moved further into the inner Solar System. This suggests that this comet does not originate from the Oort Cloud, which would classify it as a Solar System object, but likely originates from another solar system. It encountered the Solar System by chance on its long journey through our Galaxy. It will pass through it and, unlike solar comets, will not remain in the Oort Cloud, but will continue on its way.
The exact origin of this comet is currently impossible to determine, including the star from which it came, as its age is estimated at several billion years, during which time it has traveled a very long distance in orbit around the center of the Galaxy. However, it was likely ejected from a stellar system as a result of gravitational disturbances during its approach to a large planet in that system or to the star itself.
Otherwise, aside from the hyperbolic orbit, 3I/ATLAS is a fairly ordinary comet. Some peculiarities in its composition have been identified, such as the relatively large amount of carbon dioxide it emits, and spectral analysis has revealed the presence of atomic nickel in the absence of iron, although these two elements typically occur in pairs in cosmic objects. However, nothing particularly out of the ordinary has been observed for this comet, either in its composition or appearance. Even some comets in the Solar System are far more unusual in this regard. However, comet 3I/ATLAS still deserves considerable attention from scientists, as its observation and study presents a good opportunity to study the composition and dynamics of an object that has arrived from very distant lands.
Material prepared by: Mikhail Maslov, engineer at the Vega Observatory of Novosibirsk State University
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