Assessing interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS with the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias and the Two-meter Twin Telescope

TL;DR

This study characterizes interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS using advanced telescopes, revealing its spectral, physical, and dynamical properties, and suggests its origin from the Galactic thin disk, enhancing understanding of interstellar small bodies.

Contribution

First detailed spectral, activity, and rotational analysis of 3I/ATLAS, combined with dynamical modeling to infer its origin within the Galactic thin disk.

Findings

3I/ATLAS has a slightly redder spectrum than D-type asteroids.

It exhibits a coma and has a rotation period of 16.79 hours.

Its velocity suggests origin from the Galactic thin disk.

Abstract

Context. Theories of the formation and evolution of small bodies in planetary systems predict that they may escape into interstellar space at any time. After having characterized just two such interlopers -1I/2017 U1 (Oumuamua) and 2I/Borisov more questions were raised than answered. Assessing the recently discovered interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS will only broaden our understanding of this complex topic. Aims. Here, we investigate the spectral, cometary, and rotational properties of 3I/ATLAS as well as its dynamical context. Methods. We identified the spectral type of 3I/ATLAS from the visible reflectance spectrum and used photometric observations to derive its level of activity and rotational properties. Observational data were obtained with the OSIRIS camera spectrograph at the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias and the Two-meter Twin Telescope. We used N-body simulations and statistical analyses of Gaia DR3 data to investigate the origin of 3I/ATLAS and its Galactic background. Results. Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS has a visible spectrum slightly redder than those of D-type asteroids, 1I/'Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov, with a spectral slope of 18.3%/1000 A in the 4000-9000 A range, which is similar to those of TNOs and Centaurs. It has a conspicuous coma and its rotation period is 16.79 h. The heliocentric components of its Galactic velocity were (U, V, W) = (-51.233, -19.456, 18.930) km/s with a radiant in Sagittarius. The analysis of a sample of kinematic analogs of 3I/ATLAS extracted from Gaia DR3 suggests that its parent system is part of the Galactic thin disk and includes a solar-like star with slightly sub-solar metallicity.