Tail of Comet who visits another star grows, a new image of telescope shows

A new image shows the growing tail of A comet of another star system SPPLET in our solar system.

The image of comet 3i / Atlas Was captured on August 27 using one of the telescopes of the International Gemini Observatory in Chile during a public awareness event allowing students to work with astronomers.

The comet is only the third interstellar object known to go through our solar system. He represents no threat to the earth, said NASA previously.

The 3i / Atlas comet has been photographed several times since its discovery in July. In early August, NASA and the European space agency released Photos taken by the Hubble space telescope. It was approximately 277 million kilometers from the earth when the telescope captured it.

The new image of the Gemini Observatory shows the broad coma of the comet, or a cloud of dust and gas which forms around its nucleus as it approaches the sun, astronomers said in a press release. The tail extends over about 1/200th of degree in the sky. A degree concerns the width of a little finger, according to the press release. The tail also points to the sun.

The characteristics are “much more extensive than they have appeared in the previous images”, according to astronomers. This means that the comet has become “more active” when it crosses the inner solar system.

The main objective of the session of the observatory, which allowed students and public members to distance astronomers in the control room, was to look at the wavelengths of the light that emit the comet. The wavelengths, also called spectrum, can give scientists information on the comic composition and chemistry, helping them to understand how the comet changes while passing by the solar system, the press release said.

NASA previously declared that the comet should make her approach closest to the sun at the end of October and pass between the orbits of March and the Earth. The comet should remain visible until September, then get too close to the sun to observe until she reappears on the other side of the solar body in early December.

Interstellar comets are very rare, astronomers said. Only two other examples have never been confirmed: 1i / ‘Oumuamu in 2017 and 2i / Borisov in 2019.

“While 3i / Atlas accelerates in the depths of interstellar space, this image is both a scientific stage and a source of wonder,” said Karen Meech, astronomer of the University of Hawai’i Institute for Astronomy and leader of the observation program, in a press release. “This reminds us that our solar system is only part of a vast and dynamic galaxy – and that even the most ephemeral visitors can leave a lasting impact.”