The discovery of a massive interstellar object, 3I/ATLAS, has sparked speculation among scientists, including a Harvard physicist, about its potential technological origins.
A recently discovered interstellar object, known as 3I/ATLAS, is raising eyebrows among astronomers due to its unusual characteristics. Harvard physicist Dr. Avi Loeb suggests that the object’s peculiar features may indicate it is more than just a typical comet.
“Maybe the trajectory was designed,” Dr. Loeb, a science professor at Harvard University, told Fox News Digital. “If it had an objective to sort of be on a reconnaissance mission, to either send mini probes to those planets or monitor them… It seems quite anomalous.”
First detected in early July by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope in Chile, 3I/ATLAS marks only the third time an interstellar object has been observed entering our solar system, according to NASA.
While NASA has classified 3I/ATLAS as a comet, Dr. Loeb pointed out that images of the object reveal an unexpected glow appearing in front of it, rather than the typical tail that comets exhibit. “Usually with comets, you have a tail, a cometary tail, where dust and gas are shining, reflecting sunlight, and that’s the signature of a comet,” he explained. “Here, you see a glow in front of it, not behind it.”
Measuring approximately 20 kilometers across, 3I/ATLAS is larger than Manhattan and is unusually bright given its distance from the sun. However, Dr. Loeb emphasizes that its most striking feature is its trajectory.
“If you imagine objects entering the solar system from random directions, just one in 500 of them would be aligned so well with the orbits of the planets,” he noted. The interstellar object, which originates from the center of the Milky Way galaxy, is expected to pass near Mars, Venus, and Jupiter—an event that Dr. Loeb claims is highly improbable to occur by chance.
“It also comes close to each of them, with a probability of one in 20,000,” he added.
According to NASA, 3I/ATLAS will reach its closest point to the sun—approximately 130 million miles away—on October 30.
“If it turns out to be technological, it would obviously have a big impact on the future of humanity,” Dr. Loeb stated. “We have to decide how to respond to that.”
In January, astronomers from the Minor Planet Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics mistakenly identified a Tesla Roadster launched into orbit by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk as an asteroid, highlighting the complexities of identifying objects in space.
A spokesperson for NASA did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding 3I/ATLAS, leaving the scientific community eager for further insights into this intriguing interstellar visitor.
As the object approaches its closest point to the sun, the implications of its unusual characteristics continue to fuel speculation and debate among astronomers and physicists alike, according to Fox News.