ATLAS is back on the map. <\/p>\n
Contrary to claims that 3I\/ATLAS is no longer from Earth, space experts claim that the Manhattan-sized comet can now be captured by anyone with basic viewing equipment.<\/p>\n
Astronomer Yicheng Zhang snapped an image of the interstellar anomaly on November 1st, uploading his killer shot in a post blowing up on Cometary.org.<\/a><\/p>\n An image of 3I\/ATLAS that Zhang captured via a small telescope. Qicheng Zhang<\/p>\n \u201cThe comet is easily visible with small telescopes now,\u201d Zhang, a postdoctoral fellow who studies small-body astronomy at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona<\/a>, told The Post.<\/p>\n The astronomer explained in the post\u2019s caption that he caught the particular shot using a 152-mm Ritchey\u2013Chr\u00e9tien reflector (a six-inch telescope with a curved rather than flat focus<\/a>), adding that 3I\/ATLAS\u2019s increased visibility is because it\u2019s \u201crising early enough in [the] morning twilight.\u201d<\/p>\n ATLAS is visible in the photo as a \u201cslightly fuzzy dot\u201d in the center of a static-y-looking sky background. <\/p>\n Interestingly, this comes after the intergalactic oddity shifted to the opposite side of the Sun in September, getting lost in the solar glare, with experts claiming that it wouldn\u2019t be visible in Earth\u2019s sky<\/a> until at least later this month. <\/p>\n However, Zhang explained that ATLAS\u2019 so-called invisibility was due to the limitations of the equipment itself rather than the orientation of the cosmic body itself. <\/p>\n A pic of 3I\/ATLAS captured in August. NASA<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of large telescopes, which typically aren\u2019t constructed with comet science in mind, can\u2019t point very close to the horizon, so can\u2019t observe objects particularly close to the Sun in twilight,\u201d he said. \u201cHubble and the James Webb Space Telescope also have similar limitations to where they can\u2019t point that close to the Sun to avoid damaging their optics\/instruments. <\/p>\n To wit, Zhang claimed that he used a Lowell Discovery Telescope on October 31 that was \u201cconstructed with comet observations in mind,\u201d and is thereby able to point down to \u201c5 degrees and thus observe much closer to the Sun than most other telescopes of its size.\u201d<\/p>\n He said that now \u201canyone with a telescope of that size and a clear sky plus a low Eastern horizon (should ideally be less than 5 degrees) would be probably be able to catch it now.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201c[It\u2019s] much easier with a camera, but I expect it can probably be seen visually too with a telescope of that size.\u201d<\/p>\n Michigan State University astronomy professor Darryl Seligman told The Post that ATLAS will be most visible in December when it\u2019s \u201cat its closest approach to Earth.<\/p>\n He added that it\u2019s possible to get it if you can \u201ctrack it in the sky\u201d with a good \u201camateur telescope.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d say wait a few more weeks, and then the best shot is always going to the highest and driest place that you can get to \u2013 ideally away from as much light pollution as possible,\u201d Seligman urged.<\/p>\n But where will it be in the sky? The astronomer said the comet\u2019s trajectory should be fairly predictable, claiming that we know \u201cexactly where it\u2019s going to be in the sky at all points in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe uncertainties in the orbit and possibilities of nongravitational accelerations (which comets always end up having) are always very small, so they don\u2019t make huge changes for where to point the telescopes at any given night,\u201d said Seligman. He urged skywatchers to go to NASA JPL Horizons Small Body Database you can look at exactly where the object will be in the sky at any date in the next few months.<\/p>\n \u201cThe comet is easily visible with small telescopes now,\u201d Zhang said while discussing 31\/ATLAS (pictured). NASA<\/p>\n This contrasts with recent opinions by Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, who believed that ATLAS is exhibiting a host of atypical behaviors that could indicate that it\u2019s potentially an alien spacecraft.<\/p>\n In a recent paper,<\/a> the scientist wrote that the object\u2019s non-gravitational acceleration \u2014 which was\u00a0recorded by NASA<\/a>\u00a0last week \u2014 coupled with the fact that it glowed \u201cbluer than the sun\u201d could indicate the \u201ctechnological signature of an internal engine.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATLAS is back on the map. 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