UN confirms planetary defenses will target interstellar object 3I/ATLAS as shocking new images are revealed
The United Nations has officially confirmed that Earth’s planetary defenses will target the mysterious interstellar object 3I/ATLAS in just a few hours.
Starting November 27, a global team of scientists will launch a two-month campaign to track down the comet approaching our planet.
3I/ATLAS, which will reach its closest point to Earth on December 19, is not expected to pose any threat, but the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) is treating the event as a major exercise in case future asteroids are predicted to collide with Earth.
The announcement comes alongside the release of stunning new images of the visitor that reveal everything that the surprisingly blurry images recently provided by NASA did not.
Harvard professor Avi Loeb shared new amateur telescope images of the interstellar object taken between November 22 and November 24.
These striking photographs revealed a bright, fuzzy ‘head’ called a coma and a narrow tail that stretched more than 600,000 miles and oddly pointed towards the sun rather than away from it like a typical comet.
One even appeared to reveal the shape of 3I/ATLAS, showing a cone-like object shrouded in a bright haze.
The images came from daily sky observers using small telescopes around the world, including Japan, Spain and Chile, and surprisingly provided a more detailed look at the mysterious object from NASA’s Mars orbiter.
Stargazers recently captured brand new clear images of interstellar object 3I/ATLAS using lower quality telescopes compared to those used by NASA.
NASA’s advanced HiRISE camera was supposed to provide a detailed image of the interstellar object near Mars, but the photo shown Wednesday was blurry and indistinct
The space agency, which has suggested that 3I/ATLAS is a comet from a distant solar system, was heavily criticized at a Nov. 19 press conference as it was expected to offer the closest look at the object from just 39 million miles away.
But the image from the HiRISE camera on the Mars Orbiter Reconnaissance was a blurry, black-and-white image without any definition.
In fact, the clearest and most detailed image presented by NASA did not actually show the interstellar object. Instead, a color image of chemical elements released into space by 3I/ATLAS was shown.
The inadequate footage sparked a wave of criticism and conspiracy theories on social media; some claimed that the US government was deliberately being vague and showing blurry images to prevent the public from seeing an alien spacecraft.
Meanwhile, Loeb noted: Clear view of the object on November 22This photo, showing its bright green body and long ‘opposable tail’, was taken by Mitsunori Tsumura using a common 20-inch backyard bird used by stargazers around the world.
Another captured a sharp image of the interstellar visitor over Spain that same night, using a 12.4-inch telescope, a very popular size that hobbyists use in their backyards.
Perhaps the clearest image Loeb uncovered came from Canadian Paul Craggs, who was able to capture a clear image of the purported comet’s current shape while traveling over North America on November 21.
It’s surprising how amateur astronomers produce clearer images than ‘Never a Definitive Answer’ [NASA] agency,” one reviewer posted on X.
An image from 3I/ATLAS shared by astrophotographer Paul Craggs appeared to capture the shape of the object as it approached Earth on December 19.
Latest telescope images have revealed clearer images of the object than photos shared by NASA on November 19
Loeb continued to defend the theory that 3I/ATLAS could be an extraterrestrial craft traveling on a specific course through our solar system.
The physicist and head of the Galileo Project, a scientific research group that searches for signs of extraterrestrial life, noted at least 12 anomalies that scientists have been unable to explain since the object’s discovery in July.
These include a comet tail pointing in the wrong direction, an object turning blue near the sun, and a series of natural changes that defy the laws of gravity.
The UN has also declared 3I/ATLAS to be nothing more than a comet, although IAWN, operated by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, will track the object as a potential threat until January.
NASA suggests 3I/ATLAS is a comet with no signs of extraterrestrial life
‘Comet 3I/ATLAS offers the IAWN community a great opportunity for an observation exercise due to its long-term observability from Earth and high interest from the scientific community.’ IAWN wrote in a statement:.
Telescopes and tracking systems around the world will focus on 3I/ATLAS to improve methods for pinpointing its exact location in the sky.
Despite assurances from both NASA and the UN that the object was a comet and was part of a normal exercise to mobilize Earth’s planetary defenses, some skeptics online cast doubt on the story.
One X user wrote: ‘If every telescope from Mauna Kea to Chile is synchronized on a single object, it’s not an exercise.’
