A new astronomical object, designated A11pl3Z, has been confirmed to have interstellar origins by the European Space Agency. Currently located just inside Jupiter's orbit, it is expected to make its closest approach to the Sun in October. The object has an estimated eccentricity of about 6, indicating its hyperbolic trajectory and suggesting it originated from outside the Solar System. Astronomers are actively observing A11pl3Z and reviewing past data to see if it was previously detected in older sky surveys.
"Astronomers may have just discovered the third interstellar object passing through the Solar System!" the agency's Operations account shared on Blue Sky.
An engineer at the University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey, David Rankin, said recent estimates of the object's eccentricity are about 6.
Only recently identified, astronomers have been scrambling to make new observations of the object, which is presently just inside the orbit of Jupiter.
Estimates indicate that A11pl3Z will make its closest approach to the Sun this October.
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