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Astronomers discover 3I/ATLAS – Third interstellar object to visit Solar System

(www.abc.net.au)
306 points gammarator | 2 comments | 03 Jul 25 03:19 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source

Minor Planet Electronic Circular: https://minorplanetcenter.net/mpec/K25/K25N12.html
1. jerpint ◴[03 Jul 25 05:40 UTC] No.44451964[source]▶
I know nothing about this type of data; what does it mean and how can it be interpreted as an object ?
replies(1): >>44452085 #
2. ddahlen ◴[03 Jul 25 06:02 UTC] No.44452085[source]▶
This is an announcement from the Minor Planet Center (MPC). They are the official international clearing house for observations of solar system objects.

The top indicates that the object has two names (this is common): 3I/ATLAS = C/2025 N1 (ATLAS)

ATLAS was the telescope that made the discovery.

The list of data are individual observations of the object by different telescopes. This observation format has been in use for a long time, but is being phased out. A row is meant to fit on a single punch card...

These observations are then used to calculate orbits, the MPC calculates the orbit as well, but this list of observations is also ingested by JPL and their Horizons service.