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Astronomers spotted 3I/ATLAS on the first of July. Its designation as an interstellar entity occurred in less than a day. (Image credit: ATLAS/University of Hawaii/NASA)ShareShare by:
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The freshly identified interstellar body, 3I/ATLAS, could potentially be a segment of “possibly menacing” alien technology in disguise, according to a contentious study from a limited assembly of scientists, featuring a notable astronomer specializing in the pursuit of alien life.
Their article, which is yet to undergo evaluation by peers, mirrors comparable assertions previously articulated concerning ‘Oumuamua, the initial cosmic wanderer ever recognized back in 2017.
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3I/ATLAS came to light hurtling towards our sun on July 1 at speeds topping 130,000 mph (210,000 km/h), and was validated as an interstellar object within one day. Initial findings decisively propose it’s a massive comet encircled by a cloud comprised of ice, gas particles, and debris known as a coma, reaching as wide as 15 miles (24 kilometers). A computational model illustrating its area of origin implied it could predate our solar system by up to 3 billion years, likely ranking it as the oldest comet ever documented.
Nevertheless, in a recent report, published July 16 on the pre-publication platform arXiv, a team of three investigators has posed the question of whether this comet could actually be a species of concealed alien technology deployed here by a sophisticated, potentially hostile, extraterrestrial civilization.
The researchers portrayed the new article as a “pedagogical endeavor,” or speculative mental exercise, and provide no unambiguous evidence validating alien involvement. Instead, they highlight the comet’s “uncharacteristic features” and offer supplemental concepts to account for them.
Numerous sky watchers have noticed a blurry coma enveloping 3I/ATLAS, strongly implying its identity as a comet.
The study’s most prominent creator is Avi Loeb, a Harvard University astronomer well-known for connecting cosmic objects with sentient extraterrestrials. Serving as director of the Galileo Project, his team aims to locate proof of technological indicators and unidentified flying objects. In 2023, he conducted a polarizing voyage that claimed to have retrieved fragments of conceivable alien tech discarded from an unconfirmed interstellar meteor within the Pacific Ocean. (These assertions have since been broadly discredited through independent investigators).
Loeb also acted as the key scientist asserting that the extraordinary configuration and non-gravitational acceleration witnessed with the interstellar object ‘Oumuamua served as hints that it was an alien exploratory craft.
As of the present, the common sentiment points to ‘Oumuamua as a space rock discharging gas into the emptiness, in similar style to a comet. Nevertheless, Loeb and his associates have proceeded to champion its hypothetical alien source and have proposed ventures to pinpoint the itinerant space boulder.
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3I/ATLAS is presently accelerating towards our sun at more than 130,000 mph (210,000 km/h). Perihelion will occur on October 30.
Loeb’s collaborators for this latest research are each linked with the Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is), a U.K.-situated organization concentrated on strategizing prospective voyages to distant star arrangements.
Within a blog post outlining the new study, Loeb wrote that if 3I/ATLAS turns out to be a “technological creation” it could present validation of the dark forest theory, which theorizes that the rationale for our failure to uncover validation of alien life rests in their active silence to avert exposure to likely predators or prey.
“The ramifications, should the premise prove correct, might potentially be cataclysmic for humanity, and would perhaps necessitate protective interventions,” he penned.
Alien ‘evidence’
Most of the focal points introduced within the new article refer to the peculiar path taken by 3I/ATLAS. This entity exhibits movement considerably faster than the solitary known interstellar entities — ‘Oumuamua and Comet Borisov, noticed during 2019 — and it has penetrated our solar system at an angle divergent from its forerunners, drawing near to the sun from the flank relative to our star’s passage through the Milky Way galaxy.
Loeb commented that the object’s directional course “supplies a number of advantages for an extraterrestrial intellect” potentially employing it to unobtrusively oversee Earth. One such perk involves the fairly intimate encounters that 3I/ATLAS will make with three planets: Jupiter, Mars, plus Venus. And the reduced distances between this object and these planetary entities could enable extraterrestrials to discreetly position “devices” there, Loeb articulated.
In addition, 3I/ATLAS will remain concealed on the opposite hemisphere of the sun relative to Earth once it achieves its nearest proximity to our originating star near October’s cessation. “This could signify intention to evade detailed observation via terrestrial telescopes at the point the entity displays maximum brightness, or whenever devices are relayed towards Earth originating from that covered vantage,” Loeb penned.
3I/ATLAS, earlier identified as A11pl3Z, will advance right across our solar system, by virtue of tight approaches to Mars, Venus and Jupiter.
Furthermore, the atypical rate of speed maintained by 3I/ATLAS complicates the act of launching a spacecraft designed to cross its course preceding its ejection from our solar system, which could stand as yet another sign of covert extraterrestrial undertaking, according to what researchers claim.
Based on its current momentum, Loeb additionally remarked that 3I/ATLAS would have penetrated the outer regions surrounding our solar system close to 8,000 years back, “roughly corresponding to when human-conceived technologies evolved to the point of commencing documentary records of Earth’s chronicles.” Although, he remains unclear on the intent of implying that concept.
The research personnel contend that the evidence remains lacking to establish definitively 3I/ATLAS’s classification as a comet, notably as investigation remains incomplete in pointing out any “volatiles,” or particular compounds indicative of comets, incorporated within its coma.
Controversial claims
Ever since the identification of 3I/ATLAS, investigators have focused on its profiling, and until recently, an overpowering consensus views it as a comet.
“There’s been widespread telescopic oversight of 3I/ATLAS showing that it’s portraying hallmark indications of cometary activity,” Darryl Seligman, a Michigan State University astronomer heading the first study to assign quantification for 3I/ATLAS, expressed via email to Live Science.
“Every indication favors the object’s essence as a common comet discharged originating from a different star system, paralleling uncounted billions of comets ejected by our own sun’s system,” supplemented Samantha Lawler, an astronomer affiliated with the University of Regina of Canada, who specializes with solar system mechanics.
The bulk of professionals are not convinced by, and unimpressed with, the sensational fresh claims regarding 3I/ATLAS.
Any assumptions over the item’s absence of volatiles is, likewise, impulsive as of this moment. “The object remains rather distant originating from our sun, thus predictably, we can’t anticipate locating transparent verification of volatiles in every instance,” Seligman stated. Conversely, these compounds are apt to surface throughout the forthcoming weeks and months, he enhanced.
Loeb recognizes that the alien technology narrative carries a low likelihood: “By far, the likeliest consequence will affirm 3I/ATLAS as a wholly unprompted interstellar body, most probably as a comet,” he recorded through the blog entry.
Assuming current proof, most researchers offering commentary to Live Science voiced disappointment with the fresh research and brought up the element of disrupting various scientist’s endeavors.
Investigating 3I/ATLAS can provide insight on riddles surrounding various star arrangements across the Milky Way.
“Sky watchers worldwide have been exhilarated by the coming of 3I/ATLAS, collaborating with advanced telescopes to discover aspects concerning our cosmic caller,” Chris Lintott, an astronomer belonging to the University of Oxford further acting as a member across the unit that ran simulations across 3I/ATLAS’s galactic starting point, expressed via email to Live Science. “Any advocacy arguing its man-made origin lacks substantial support, and delivers as an insult towards the intriguing research in progress toward comprehending this object.”
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Loeb remains no unfamiliar figure to comparable critique and defended his standing, writing that “the speculation amounts to a fascinating endeavor independent of external considerations, and delivers enjoyment throughout exploration, independently of presumable validity.”
Nevertheless, while it remains pivotal to sustain open minds pertaining to “testable forecasts,” the fresh article advances this viewpoint to extreme levels, Lawler informed Live Science through email. “Within my own experience, a broad collection of researchers subscribes to recognizing that extraordinary claims mandate extraordinary proof, and that proof presented presents absolutely no extraordinary elements.”
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Harry BakerSocial Links NavigationSenior Staff Writer
Harry fills the function of a U.K.-stationed senior staff writer here at Live Science. Possessing training in studying marine biology at the University of Exeter earlier than seeking journalist training. Encompassing widespread concentrations involving space exploration, planetary sciences, space environment, climate evolutions, animal manners in addition to paleontology. Recent operations centering surrounding solar maximization secured “optimum space posting” at the 2024 Aerospace Media Awards furthermore attained shortlist position regarding the “foremost scoop” classification according to NCTJ Awards to champion outstanding outcomes during 2023. Additionally pens Live Science’s periodic Earth originating across space series.
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