"This visitor from another solar system, named 3I/ATLAS, is currently rushing towards the sun at 137,000 miles per hour (221,000 km/h). Now, scientists at the Gemini South Observatory in Chile have captured the clearest images of 3I/ATLAS yet. And the images reveal one feature which could finally put an end to speculation about whether the object is an alien spacecraft."
"They reveal a dense icy nucleus surrounded by a broad halo of gas and dust known as a coma. Most importantly, they also reveal that the object has a long tail stretching behind 3I/ATLAS in the direction opposite to the sun. This tail measures about one 120th of a degree in the sky, where one degree is about the width of your little finger on an outstretched arm."
3I/ATLAS is an interstellar object moving toward the sun at roughly 137,000 miles per hour (221,000 km/h). Multi-coloured images captured by the Gemini South Observatory on August 27 from about 240 million miles (380 million km) away show a dense icy nucleus surrounded by a coma and a long tail extending opposite the sun. The tail spans about one 120th of a degree in the sky. The images clearly demonstrate that 3I/ATLAS is a comet. Cometary ices sublimate near the sun, producing reflective gas and dust that form bright comae and tails.
Read at Mail Online
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