“The reason for 3I/ATLAS’s rapid brightening, which far exceeds the brightening rate of most Oort cloud comets… remains unclear.” This claim from a recent scientific study emphasizes the growing enigma surrounding an interstellar visitor to our solar system. The discovery of a ninth anomaly in the object known as 3I/ATLAS by Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb has sparked a scientific discussion regarding its actual origin and challenged other specialists to explain its peculiar behavior.
What is the New Ninth Anomaly?
The latest mystery emerged when 3I/ATLAS reached its closest point to the Sun, a position known as perihelion. Data from satellites including STEREO, SOHO, and the newly launched GOES-19 revealed that the object did something extraordinary. Instead of turning red like typical comets, it changed colour to a bright blue and underwent a rapid increase in brightness. Loeb stated that this “rapid brightening and a colour bluer than the Sun” is highly unexpected. He explained that for a natural comet, this blue colour is very surprising, as dust should redden the sunlight it scatters. This peculiar appearance at perihelion now stands as the ninth major anomaly in the growing list of the object’s unexplained properties.
Who Is Being Challenged to Explain This?
The strange findings have prompted Avi Loeb to publicly challenge English physicist and science communicator Brian Cox. Loeb referenced that Cox had “argued forcefully that 3I/ATLAS is definitely a natural comet.” In response, Loeb characterized Cox as acting “as a science popularizer rather than a researcher who is engaged with the related science.” Highlighting his own work, Loeb noted he has written 11 scientific papers on the object in recent months. Instead of making what he calls “sweeping statements,” Loeb challenges Cox and others to directly address and decode the specific anomalies presented by 3I/ATLAS.
What Are the Other Eight Anomalies?
The ninth anomaly adds to a pre-existing list of eight other strange features that have made 3I/ATLAS the most mysterious object in our solar system since its discovery on July 1. These features collectively raise doubts about it being a simple comet. The anomalies include:
Anomalous Trajectory: Its path is aligned within 5 degrees of our solar system’s planetary plane, with only a 0.2% likelihood of this occurring by chance.
Sunward Jet: Observations showed an anti-tail, a sunward-facing jet of material.
Unusual Size and Speed: It is far more massive than previous interstellar visitors but moves at a mind-boggling speed of 200,000 km/hr, a combination with less than a 0.1% chance.
Accurate Flyby: It was very close to Mars, Venus, and Jupiter according to its track.
Earth Visibility: There was just a 0.005% chance that it would not be visible from Earth at perihelion.
Nickel-Rich Plume: The gas plume, which is frequently present in industrial alloys, has a higher concentration of nickel than iron.
Low Water Content: Just 4% of the plume’s mass is made up of water.
Extreme Polarization: It displays a level of negative polarization that is unprecedented in all known comets.
Another intriguing aspect of 3I/ATLAS’s voyage is that, according to Loeb, it seems to come from the same direction as the well-known “Wow! Signal,” a long-unexplained radio signal from space.
