ATLAS Survey Discovers Fast-Moving Object Entering Solar System

Historic Discovery

On July 1, 2025, astronomers using the NASA-funded ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) survey telescope at Río Hurtado, Chile (observatory code W68), made a remarkable discovery. They detected a new object moving through space at an apparent magnitude of 18, located approximately 4.51 AU (675 million km) from the Sun and 3.50 AU (524 million km) from Earth.

The object, initially designated A11pl3Z, was moving at an unprecedented speed of 61 km/s (137,000 mph) relative to the Sun, immediately catching the attention of the astronomical community.

Initial Observations

The discovery team noticed several unusual characteristics:

• Extremely high velocity compared to typical Solar System objects
• Unusual orbital trajectory suggesting it wasn't bound to the Sun
• Located in the constellation border between Serpens Cauda and Sagittarius
• Entering the inner Solar System from interstellar space

Pre-discovery Images

Following the discovery, astronomers searched through archival data and found the earliest precovery image dated May 7, 2025. This extended the observation arc and helped astronomers better understand the object's trajectory and origin.

What's Next

The discovery has triggered a coordinated international observing campaign. Major observatories around the world, including the Hubble Space Telescope, James Webb Space Telescope, and ground-based facilities like Gemini and VLT, are being mobilized to study this rare visitor.

Preliminary orbital calculations suggest the object is on a hyperbolic trajectory, which would make it only the third confirmed interstellar object to pass through our Solar System, after 1I/'Oumuamua (2017) and 2I/Borisov (2019).