我国航天器首次观测到星际天体！天问一号传回新照片

Core Insights - The Tianwen-1 orbiter successfully observed the interstellar object Atlas, marking the first time a Chinese spacecraft has observed such a celestial body [1] - Atlas is the third known interstellar object to visit the solar system, with an estimated age of 3 to 11 billion years, potentially older than the solar system itself, making it a rare sample for studying exoplanet composition and early stellar history [1] - The observation was a significant extension of the Tianwen-1 mission, providing valuable experience for future asteroid exploration with Tianwen-2 [1][2] Group 1 - The Tianwen-1 team began preparations for the Atlas observation in early September, facing challenges due to the object's distance of approximately 30 million kilometers and its high speed of about 58 kilometers per second [2] - The observation required advanced control of the orbiter's attitude and imaging strategy, as Atlas is significantly dimmer than Mars, being 10,000 to 100,000 times darker [2] - The high-resolution camera on Tianwen-1, originally designed for bright Mars surface imaging, was successfully adapted for this challenging observation task [2] Group 2 - The Tianwen-1 probe has been in stable operation since entering Mars orbit in February 2021, with a total operational duration of 4 years and 8 months [3]