Discovery and Preliminary Characterization of a Third Interstellar Object: 3I/ATLAS

We report initial observations aimed at the characterization of a third interstellar object. This object, 3I/ATLAS or C/2025 N1 (ATLAS), was discovered on 2025 July 1 UT and has an orbital eccentricity of e  ∼ 6.1, perihelion of q  ∼ 1.36 au, inclination of ∼175°, and hyperbolic velocity of V _∞  ∼ ...

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Published in:	The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Main Authors:	Darryl Z. Seligman, Marco Micheli, Davide Farnocchia, Larry Denneau, John W. Noonan, Henry H. Hsieh, Toni Santana-Ros, John Tonry, Katie Auchettl, Luca Conversi, Maxime Devogèle, Laura Faggioli, Adina D. Feinstein, Marco Fenucci, Marin Ferrais, Tessa Frincke, Michael Gillon, Olivier R. Hainaut, Kyle Hart, Andrew Hoffman, Carrie E. Holt, Willem B. Hoogendam, Mark E. Huber, Emmanuel Jehin, Theodore Kareta, Jacqueline V. Keane, Michael S. P. Kelley, Tim Lister, Kathleen Mandt, Jean Manfroid, Dušan Marčeta, Karen J. Meech, Mohamed Amine Miftah, Marvin Morgan, Francisco Ocaña, Eloy Peña-Asensio, Benjamin J. Shappee, Robert J. Siverd, Aster G. Taylor, Michael A. Tucker, Richard Wainscoat, Robert Weryk, James J. Wray, Atsuhiro Yaginuma, Bin Yang, Quanzhi Ye, Qicheng Zhang
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Subjects:	Interstellar objects Asteroids Comets Meteors
Online Access:	https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/adf49a