&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Scientist says a trillion 3I/ATLAS-like objects are in the solar system right now")
3I/ATLAS might only be the third interstellar object seen in our solar system. But it is not special in the sense that there are 10^{23}, or one hundred sextillion, such objects in the Milky Way alone. What's even more intriguing is the fact that there could be a trillion such interstellar objects in the solar system right now. This object has been classified as a comet by scientists at NASA, ESA and other space agencies. It was discovered on July 1 by the ATLAS observatory in Chile. The object's trajectory was a dead giveaway of its origins. It was on a hyperbolic path and not attached to the Sun's gravity. This meant that it was travelling from some corner of the Milky Way, although scientists are still not sure where it originated. 3I/ATLAS isn't unique, Avi Loeb says, and there are billions and trillions of such objects traversing through our galaxy.
3I/ATLAS has been in the solar system for 8.000 years
He also says that 3I/ATLAS has been journeying through our solar system for over 8,000 years. It has been "travelling through the region containing objects that are gravitationally bound to the Sun, the so-called solar system." Loeb says, considering that it is a natural object, it can be used to deduce the number of such objects moving "through the Solar system out to the edge of the Oort Cloud at a distance of 100,000 AU."
Also Read: 3I/ATLAS could display its 'most remarkable anomaly' near Jupiter - Rare coincidence at perijove
"Given that 3I/ATLAS was discovered at a distance of ~5 AU in a survey that lasted 5 years, I calculate that there should be a trillion objects like 3I/ATLAS in the solar system right now!" Loeb wrote in his blog. The edge of the Oort cloud is roughly halfway to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri. He cites this information to deduce that a trillion objects like 3I/ATLAS are being produced per star in the Milky Way.
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A billion interstellar objects have travelled towards Earth
The Milky Way is believed to contain 100 billion stars, and they likely "process 3 million solar masses to make a population of interstellar comets like 3I/ATLAS over the past 10 billion years." Loeb says that this means that there are “10^{23} similar objects in the Milky Way galaxy alone and 10^{34} of them in the observable volume of the Universe.” The Harvard scientist says this means that 3I/ATLAS isn't really special, and Earth has been visited by a billion similar interstellar objects over its lifetime.
