Harvard Astronomer Says Mysterious Interstellar Object May Be Blasting Its Thrusters to Get Away From Us as Fast as Possible
The mysterious interstellar object 3I/ATLAS has reemerged from behind the Sun, allowing astronomers to once again see this rare visitor.
The object, believed by experts to be a comet composed predominantly of carbon dioxide ice, continues its highly eccentric orbit and is expected to make its closest pass of Earth just days before Christmas as it heads back through our star system.
And according to the latest data, 3I/ATLAS survived perihelion (or closest approach to the Sun) largely intact, rather than disintegrating, as Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb hypothesized in a study. blog post earlier this week.
Loeb acknowledged that new images from 3I/ATLAS, taken by the Scandinavian Optical Telescope in the Canary Islands, “show a single object with no evidence of disintegration after the perihelion passage two weeks ago.” Wednesday follow up post.
The images also show 3I/ATLAS’ distinctive “anti-tail” of jets, which are suspected to consist of larger dust particles directed toward the Sun and less affected by the Sun’s radiation pressure.
But according to Loeb, this is only one of two possible scenarios. These jets may also be evidence of “thrusters on a technological spacecraft.” said NBC News On Monday.
If so, Loeb suggests, if 3I/ATLAS is truly a visitor from a technological civilization (which is likely to have flown by many times), then it may be trying to accelerate its exit from the solar system to a dizzying speed. (Let’s face it: Getting away from Earth as fast as possible makes a lot of sense these days.)
“Technological thrusters that direct their exhaust towards the Sun will accelerate away from the Sun,” Loeb said in his latest blog post. “This post-perihelion maneuver could be used by a spacecraft aiming to gain speed rather than slow down, thanks to gravitational support from the Sun.”
This is just one of several “anomalies” that Loeb has cataloged to support his theory that 3I/ATLAS may be some sort of alien spacecraft visiting the solar system. Loeb had already discussed the object’s “tail protection” in early September. Attachment appeared for the first time August images It was taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope but has since been extended in length.
Of course, most of his peers think it’s just a natural comet. Loeb’s far-fetched theory has sparked much skepticism in the scientific community.
One September 29 blog postPennsylvania State University astronomer Jason Wright refuted Loeb’s claim that 3I/ATLAS’s anti-tail is unique and may be alien technology, noting observations of “similar progress toward the sun” caused by large, ejected dust grains that “are not swept away by the solar wind on the side of the comet facing the Sun.”
Wright also stated: 1974 article The “anomalous tail of Comet Kohoutek,” an object first discovered a year earlier in 1973, was being discussed.
But Loeb isn’t ready to give up hope that we might be looking at an alien spaceship.
According to their calculations, 3I/ATLAS could be much more massive than previously thought, with a surface area equivalent to a 22.3-mile-diameter sphere, due to the large mass it sheds. That’s four times as much as previous estimates.
“Thrusters with alien technology can use higher exhaust velocities, reduce the required mass loss by several orders of magnitude, and make the required fuel a fraction of the spacecraft mass.” previous blog post.
According to Loeb, it’s a matter of keeping an open mind, even in light of overwhelming evidence. Additionally, if 3I/ATLAS were an alien mothership, there is no telling what risks it would pose to humanity.
“The foundation of science is curiosity and the humility to learn,” he said. NBC News. “Let’s wait a few more weeks, we’ll figure it out, and let’s hope there won’t be any gifts from this object during the holidays on Earth.”
More about 3I/ATLAS: Mysterious Interstellar Object May Have Just Exploded
