A mystery interstellar object discovered last week by scientists could be the oldest comet ever found.
The object, called 3I/Atlas, is believed to be three billion years older than our Solar System.
It is only the third object discovered in the Solar System which is likely to have an interstellar origin. The other objects which have been discovered in recent times and which possibly have interstellar origins include Oumuamua, discovered in 2017, and Borisov, discovered in 2019.
The object was discovered at the beginning of the month, but it can still only be spotted with powerful telescopes. However, it is believed that amateur astronomers will be able to spot it with ordinary telescopes later this year.
Image by alberto agostini from Pixabay