A new object has entered the Solar System

The International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center added A11pl3Z to its list of potential near-Earth objects on July 1, 2025. But that doesn't mean it's at risk of hitting Earth.

A11pl3Z, which is not yet known exactly, is likely to be a comet or an asteroid. It is currently quite distant and very faint, so it will take time to obtain more definitive information. Astrafoxen, an astrophysics student in California, shared the image from the Deep Random Survey telescope in Chile on the Bluesky platform. In addition, amateur astronomer Sam Deen found traces of this object in old ATLAS data from the last week of June. These observations strengthened the possibility that A11pl3Z may be of interstellar origin.

DIAMETER APPROXIMATELY 2O KILOMETERS

Marshall Eubanks, a physicist and radio astronomer who works on space initiatives, said on the Minor Planet Mailing List that the object could be about 20 kilometers in diameter. A11pl3Z will also approach Mars to within about 0.4 astronomical units in October, which will allow it to be observed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Eubanks pointed out that the object could be coming from a thin galactic disk and said that its speed relative to Earth will reach 90 km/s in April next year, which would be a record.

Scientists are now continuing to monitor A11pl3Z to better understand its origin and structure. If confirmed to be interstellar, this object would become the third visitor from outside the Solar System.