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Anytime a new object is spotted in the sky, it sparks excitement for astronomers. When it is determined that the object is entering our solar system from interstellar space, it is exciting for everyone.
The object dubbed 3I/ATLAS is just the third object ever confirmed to have come from interstellar space (many more have undoubtedly traveled through, but we only recently developed the technology to detect them). So, it is no surprise that telescopes and other instruments have been spending a lot of time analyzing it.
Early on, it was discovered that the object was traveling extremely fast and that its dust trail was not behaving the way that most people expected.
Anytime something unusual is detected in space, you are sure to get some people claiming that it must be coming from aliens, and this was no exception.
In this case, Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb was the one who made this claim. This is not the first time that he has made major claims about aliens, so the things he says are generally taken with a grain of salt. That being said, however, he is also a respected astrophysicist in his field, so these normally wild claims can’t be dismissed entirely.
After learning more about the object, however, other astronomers are starting to throw cold water on the possibility that it is an alien craft. NASA’s lead scientist for solar system small bodies, Tom Statler, recently talked to The Guardian about this possibility. He said:
“It looks like a comet. It does comet things. It very, very strongly resembles, in just about every way, the comets that we know. It’s a comet.”
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This does not mean, however, that the object can be ignored entirely. There is still a lot to learn about it, and a lot we don’t yet know. Statler went on to say that the comet had:
“…some interesting properties that are a little bit different from our solar system comets.”
Every object that is found coming into our tiny little corner of the universe needs to be closely studied and monitored. Statler went on to talk about how this opportunity is new for humanity, and it needs to be taken advantage of:
“It’s not that they’re really anything new, but we’ve just recently had the ability to discover them. This gives us a window we’ve never had before, directly into the composition of other solar systems.”
For now, the object is still flying in toward the center of our solar system, and it will continue to get closer for some time before it passes through and begins its journey back out into interstellar space. Until it passes beyond our ability to see it, you can bet that astronomers will be gathering up as much data about it as possible.
If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about a second giant hole has opened up on the sun’s surface. Here’s what it means.