In June, a mysterious object was spotted racing through the inner solar system on a hyperbolic path. It was later confirmed as an interstellar object, the third entity from outside our solar system to be seen in the night skies. The rare discovery sparked a scientific race to understand the object and its origins, including possible probes to study it up close.
Scientists at the Southwest Research Institute (SWRI) have compiled a mission study that describes how a spacecraft might conduct a flyby of an interstellar object as it follows the solar system. While it is too late for this mission to intercept the recently discovered 3i/atlas, scientists have used the observed properties of the comet-like object to design the spacecraft, its required payloads, and scientific objectives so they can prepare for the next interstellar visitor.
“The trajectory of 3i/Atlas is within the intercept range of our projected mission, and the scientific observations made during this flight would be groundbreaking,” said Matthew Freeman of SWRI, the study’s project manager, in a statement. “The proposed mission would be a high-speed, head-on flight that would collect a wealth of valuable data and could also serve as a model for future missions to other ISCs.”
3I/ATLAS was first spotted in data collected by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) between June 25 and 29, and then again on July 1. Based on initial observations, scientists determined that the object was moving too fast to be bound by the Sun’s gravity and that it’s on a hyperbolic trajectory, meaning it doesn’t follow a closed orbital path around our star, according to NASA . The International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center confirmed that this likely comet came from outside our solar system on July 2, marking the third discovery of an interstellar object.
Omuamua was the first known interstellar object, detected by the Pan-Starrs1 telescope in Hawaii while scanning the sky on October 19, 2017. Two years later, amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov spotted the second known interstellar object, named 2i/Borisov. Scientists estimate that many more such objects pass Earth’s neighborhood each year, and they may be easier to find with new astronomical facilities, such as the Vera Rubin Observatory.
“These new types of objects offer humanity the first viable opportunity to closely explore bodies formed in other star systems,” Alan Stern, associate vice president of SWRI, who led the study project, said in a statement. “An [interstellar comet] flyby could provide unprecedented information about the composition, structure, and properties of these objects, and would significantly expand our understanding of the formation processes of solid bodies in other star systems.”
Interestingly, 3i/Atlas is scheduled for a Mars flyby on October 3rd, when the object will come as close as possible to 30 million kilometers from the Red Planet. The European Space Agency is preparing to observe the interstellar object using Mars-orbiting spacecraft, namely Mars Express and the Exomars Trace Gas Orbiter, according to Space.com . The object may be too far away for detailed observations, but the spacecraft will at least help determine 3i/atlas’s shape and attempt to measure its spectrum for molecular signatures that could shed light on its mysterious origins.
