First Data on 3I/ATLAS: Fast, Massive, and From Another Star with Aster Taylor and Tessa Frincke

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Astronomers have just confirmed 3I/ATLAS as only the third known interstellar object to pass through our solar system after ʻOumuamua and Borisov. In this episode, Aster Taylor and Tess Frincke break down the first observational data of 3I/ATLAS, its hyperbolic orbit, icy coma, and potential close approach near Mars and the Sun this October.

0:01 Introduction to Event Horizon with John Michael Godier
1:06 How This New Discovery Could Change Astronomy
1:41 A Strange Twist That Could Change Everything We Know
6:37 What If This Object Is 100 Earth Masses?
8:14 An Unexpected Turn in the Conversation
9:27 How Objects Get Pushed into Higher Orbits
11:16 What Observations Reveal About the Object’s Composition
14:10 Tonight’s Observation Plan for the Interstellar Visitor
14:56 Observing the Object Near the Moon
15:23 Tracking the Object’s Spectrum as the Moon Moves
15:48 When Follow-Up Observations Will Happen
17:54 Considering More Exotic Explanations
18:56 Why This Is a Rare Opportunity for Discovery
20:32 The Answer Isn’t Clear—Here’s My Best Guess
21:30 Why Even Astronomers Struggle With This Challenge
22:01 How We Fit the Orbit and What It Tells Us
22:25 The Moment of Discovery Explained
22:46 The Primary Way We’ll Find These Objects in the Future
25:52 How the Object Was Originally Identified
27:19 Inside the Discovery Paper—What the Images Show
28:48 Why We Lose Sight of Objects as the Moon Moves
29:07 Could Mars or Satellites Help Us Track These?
29:52 Plans Underway for Future Interstellar Object Missions
30:16 The Case for Building a Dedicated Mission
30:37 Ongoing Discussions About Mission Design
31:02 Why This Mission Is Feasible Right Now
31:22 The Budget Challenge for Making It Happen
32:27 Do You Agree With This Approach?

Discovery and preliminary characterization of a third interstellar object: 3I/ATLAS
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.02757

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FOOTAGE:
NASA
ESA/Hubble
ESO - M.Kornmesser
ESO - L.Calcada
ESO - Jose Francisco Salgado (josefrancisco.org)
NAOJ
University of Warwick
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