Experts Club Information and Analytical Centre presents a selection of significant discoveries in the field of astronomy and space for the last week. The collection includes significant world sources.
Mysterious object 3i/ATLAS is approaching Mars
3i/ATLAS, the third known interstellar object to enter the Solar System, was discovered on 1 July 2025 by the ATLAS telescope in Chile. The orbit of 3i/ATLAS is hyperbolic – the object is not bound by the Sun’s gravity and will not orbit around it, but will only pass through the Solar System. It is calculated to pass at a distance of about 0.19 astronomical units (≈ 28 million km) from Mars on 3 October 2025.
In the science paper “3I/ATLAS (C/2025 N1): a direct spacecraft study in” Space Nune “, the authors discuss that the comet could be observed from Martian spacecraft as it passes inside the orbit of Mars.
In addition, there is a high probability that the JUICE probe (ESA’s mission to Jupiter’s satellites) will also detect 3i/ATLAS in November 2025. Recent estimates of the mass of this object put it above previous estimates-it may be more massive than previously thought.
Localisation of the brightest FRB (Fast Radio Burst)
An international team of astronomers has been able to pinpoint the source of the brightest recorded FRB signal and link it to a specific galaxy.
This achievement helps to better understand the nature of these powerful radio pulses and their possible association with neutron stars or magnetars.
A new theory of Type Ia (Type IA supernovae) explosions, a paper in the Astrophysical Journal proposes a mechanism whereby some Type Ia supernovae may be caused by primary black holes without companions.
This may affect the use of these explosions as “standard candles” in cosmology.
New data from Trace Gas Orbiter on Mars Analyses of images and spectra from the ExoMars/Trace Gas Orbiter mission have shown that Recurring Slope Lineae on Mars may form without the involvement of liquid water – probably due to dust slides. It also noted the detection of an oxide and seasonal ozone layer in Mars’ atmosphere.
Discovery of a potential new satellite of UranusThe James Webb Telescope (JWST) has discovered a potential new satellite of Uranus – tentatively named S/2025 U1, about 10 kilometres in diameter, located outside the planet’s ring system.