And comet 3I/ATLAS is… a comet!
‘3I/ATLAS is a comet’. NASA has finally released the long-awaited images of the interstellar comet, and a person responsible for the North American space agency denies rumors of an alien origin of the mysterious celestial body: it is, in fact, a comet.
NASA has finally revealed a set of unprecedented images of comet 3I/ATLAS, and guarantees that this interstellar visitor is a natural object.
Since its discovery in July, comet 3I/ATLAS has become a true celestial celebritypartly due to constant speculation that it could be one — fueled mainly by the infamous astronomer Avi Loeb.
But although most astronomers are confident that the interstellar visitor is coming from an unknown star system, in recent weeks NASA remained silent on the comet, due to the USA.
It is shutdownwhich ran from October 1st to November 12th, coincided with the passage of comet 3I/ATLAS behind the far side of the Sun, having reached the closest point to the star (perihelion) on October 29 and then entering its most active phase.
NASA’s delay in releasing new images during this period fueled conspiracy theorieswith some speculating that the agency had something to hide, says .
NASA held one on Wednesday to present the long-awaited images, and wasted no time addressing the topic. Shortly after the start of the conference, Amit Kshatriyaassociate administrator at NASA, said he wanted clarify what he called “the rumors”.
“This object is a comet,” said Kshatriya. “It looks and behaves like a comet… and All evidence points in this direction. But this one came from outside our solar system, which makes it fascinating, exciting and extremely scientifically relevant.”
The natural origin of the comet does not diminish interest around the history of 3I/ATLAS.
This is only the third interstellar comet ever recorded, after and , possibly the most massive of its kind, so there is no shortage of reasons – which have nothing to do with extraterrestrials – to capture the interest of humanity.
The new images were captured with several different instruments, with the closest ones obtained by the probe Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and NASA.
This spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since 2006, searching for signs of water on the Red Planet, using the HiRISE — High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment — camera. It was this camera that photographed comet 3I/ATLAS as it passed by Mars in early October.
The MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) probe also recorded ultraviolet images of comet 3I/ATLAS, which, according to NASA, will help researchers to better understand the composition of the object.
O interstellar intruder It originates somewhere beyond our solar system. Researchers don’t know which star system it comes from, but they admit that it could be billions of years old — potentially more than 3 billion years old than our Sun.
Although the comet’s age has not yet been confirmed, Tom Statlerlead scientist for small bodies in the solar system at NASA, explained that as the comet moves at a speed three times higher than average Since the stars in our galactic neighborhood orbit the center of the Milky Way, it is likely to be in interstellar space a long time ago.
“We cannot say this with certainty, but it is very likely that it comes from a solar system older than ours“, Statler stated during the broadcast. “And honestly, that gives me goosebumpsbecause it means that 3I/ATLAS is not just a window into another solar system; It is a window into the remote past, so remote that it even predates the formation of the Earth and our Sun.”
And so, now that NASA has just confirmed that 3I/ATLAS is indeed a comet, No more conspiracy theories?
Not really. A little everywhere, posts on social media and livechats on YouTube, with titles like “” (this one, with the inevitable presence of Avi Loeb) continue to feed the idea that we are on the verge of being invaded by an alien race heading towards us in a huge space shuttle.
Of course, these theories will disappear when, sometime around Christmas, the comet passes us and continues its path wherever it is headed (as happened, in fact, with ‘Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov. But, until then, the subject will always It will generate millions of views.
