NASA’s ENLIL model has forecast that a coronal mass ejection (CME) launched from the Sun on September 19 will collide with interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS on September 24 or 25 — an event scientists say is extraordinarily rare. Unlike ordinary comets within our solar system, no interstellar comet has ever been observed interacting with a CME. The blast comes just as 3I/ATLAS has brightened 40-fold in recent weeks, surging in visibility before it soon disappears into the Sun’s glare. Astronomers expect the impact to potentially bend or even disconnect the comet’s plasma tail, but beyond that, “what happens to an interstellar comet is anyone’s guess,” said Dr. Tony Phillips of SpaceWeather.com.

Since early September, the comet has increased in brightness from magnitude +16 to +12, a remarkable jump confirmed in images captured by Gerald Rhemann and Michael Jäger. This fleeting window of observation offers scientists a rare opportunity to record how an interstellar visitor responds to the raw power of the Sun. As the CME races toward 3I/ATLAS, astronomers will be watching closely, hoping the data collected will shed light not only on the nature of the comet itself but also on how solar storms interact with cosmic objects beyond our solar neighborhood.

SOURCE: The Watchers