Why Astronomers Are Excited About Comet 3I/ATLAS’ Close Approach

<p>This year, comet <a href="https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/comet-3i-atlas-iss/?utm_source=wnyc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=scifri" target="_blank">3I/Atlas</a> broke into our solar system, but also the zeitgeist. This dirty snowball is a visitor from another solar system, and it’s only the third interstellar object we’ve ever spotted. And today, it's closer to us than ever before—just 170 million miles away.</p><p>Astronomy experts Stefanie Milam and Hakeem Oluseyi join Host Flora Lichtman to dish about 3I/ATLAS and how it captured the spotlight in a way that maybe no other big hunk of rock ever has.</p><p>Plus, the sun is setting on the ISS, and the plan is to eventually crash it  into the ocean. But wouldn’t it be cooler to send it into deep space instead? A listener pleads his case.</p><p>Guests: Dr. Stefanie Milam is an astrochemist at NASA and a project scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope. She studies comets and interstellar objects.</p><p>Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi ...