2025年12月1日
3I ATLAS: Tails of an Interstellar Comet
Image Credit & Copyright: Victor Sabet & Julien De Winter
Explanation: How typical is our Solar System? Studying 3I/ATLAS, a comet just passing through, is providing clues. Confirmed previous interstellar visitors include an asteroid, a comet, a meteor, and a gas wind dominated by hydrogen and helium. Comet 3I/ATLAS appears relatively normal when compared to Solar System comets, therefore providing more evidence that our Solar System is a somewhat typical star system. For example, Comet 3I/ATLAS has a broadly similar chemical composition and ejected dust. The featured image was captured last week from Texas and shows a green coma, a wandering blue-tinted ion tail likely deflected by our Sun’s wind, and a slight anti-tail, all typical cometary attributes. The comet, visible with a telescope, passed its closest to the Sun in late October and will pass its closest to the Earth in mid-December, after which it will return to interstellar space and never return.
Explore the Universe: Random APOD Generator
Tomorrow’s picture: active galaxy
3I ATLAS: 星际彗星的尾迹
影像提供与版权: Victor Sabet & Julien De Winter
说明: 我们的太阳系有多典型？研究刚刚掠过太阳系的彗星3I/ATLAS为我们提供了线索。先前已确认的星际访客包括一颗小行星、一颗彗星、一颗流星以及一股以氢和氦为主的气体风。与太阳 系统中的彗星相比，彗星3I/ATLAS显得相对正常，这进一步证明了我们的太阳系是一个相对典型的恒星系统。例如，彗星3I/ATLAS的化学成分与喷射出的尘埃大致相同。这张照片是上周从德克萨斯州拍摄的，照片显示了一颗彗星的绿色彗发，一条可能受到太阳风偏转略带蓝色的离子尾，以及一条轻微的反尾，这些都是典型的彗星特征。这颗彗星可以用望远镜观测，于十月底经过了距离太阳最近的位置，并将于12月中旬经过距离地球最近的位置，之后它将返回星际空间，并且永远不会再回来。
探索宇宙: 随机APOD生成器
明日的图片: active galaxy
