NASA telescopes track 3I/ATLAS as it nears the Sun, showing strange tail behavior and a chemical signature never seen in natural comets (Photo: File)
The 3I/ATLAS object is drawing the entire world’s focus as it approaches its perihelion on October 29. The object will pass at approximately 1.36 astronomical units (AU) the distance from the Sun to Mars.
What makes 3I/ATLAS interesting is its odd behavior that corresponds to nothing attributed to a comet. This has left astronomers speculating whether it really is an interstellar natural traveler or something far stranger. As it comes closer to the Sun and the object will suffer an intense onslaught of 33 gigawatts of solar radiation possibly slightly changing its course.
3I/ATLAS is the third known interstellar object to invade the solar system after the iconic ‘Oumuamua (2017) and Comet Borisov (2019). Detections this year have confirmed its hyperbolic trajectory proving that it is an object that came from outside the solar system and one that is set to leave it again.
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The object has been under close monitoring by NASA and many world observatories using the Hubble Space Telescope and other instruments. Initial snapshots show a faint teardrop-shaped dust envelope surrounding an icy core thought to be between about 440 meters and 5.6 kilometers across.
3I/ATLAS seems to disobey the rules of cometary physics in all respects. The tail was initially directed towards the Sun instead of away directly contrary to solar radiation pressure.
By September, astronomers at the Nordic Optical Telescope in Spain saw the tail flip direction, adding to the mystery. Even more puzzling, spectral data showed traces of nickel tetracarbonyl, an industrial compound never before found in natural space objects. Scientists wondered if the object could actually be artificial.
Loeb, the Harvard astrophysicist known for his often controversial views regarding extraterrestrial technology, suggested that the object's behavior may indicate controlled motion.
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"If 3I/ATLAS were slowing down deliberately and the anti-tail represented thrust then its change near perihelion might be a technosignature, evidence of intelligent control," Loeb explained. NASA's Hubble, Webb and Parker Solar Probe missions are monitoring the object to verify these possibilities.
In spite of the attraction for the mystery of its origins, NASA explains that 3I/ATLAS cannot be a threat to our planet. The object will not come closer than 270 million kilometers from Earth while the enigmas of 3I/ATLAS continue to be debated scientifically, one certainty remains: incredible views into the unknown beyond our solar system are rare.
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Disclaimer: This article is based on current scientific observations and expert commentary. No claims of extraterrestrial origin are confirmed by NASA.
