“No one would have believed…in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched, keenly and closely, by intelligence greater than man’s; that we were being studied, as one with a microscope might scrutinise creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.”
So begins HG Wells’ classic sci-fi novel, War of the Worlds.
However, according to some astrophysicists, the prospect that we’re being studied by some superior alien species may no longer be the stuff of pure fiction.
Because something unprecedented just entered our solar system and it’s got scientists scrambling for answers, and divided on their theories.
ASTEROID TERRESTRIAL-IMPACT LAST ALERT SYSTEM (ATLAS)
On 1 July this year, NASA’s Chile-based Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) – a new telescope that tracks fast-moving astronomical objects – detected a mysterious celestial body barreling through space at over 200,000 km/h towards Earth.
Dubbed 3I/ATLAS by scientists, this is the third such interstellar visitor after ‘Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov.
But unlike its predecessors, 3I/ATLAS exhibits certain traits that, for some expert observers, seem to scream anomaly, and could in fact represent something truly extraordinary in our cosmic neighborhood.
While it shows signs of cometary activity with water ice signatures, its path through our solar system is so precisely aligned with planetary orbits that some researchers are questioning whether this could be something unnatural.
While most mainstream astronomers dismiss it as a natural comet, evidence compiled by a now familiar astroscientist suggests something far more…”out there”.
3I/ATLAS: ALIEN PROBE… FROM A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY?
Harvard astrophysics Professor Avi Loeb, who famously hypothesised that the first known interstellar object, ‘Oumuamua, might be artificial, is now near convinced, again, that 3I/ATLAS could be an alien probe testing our response – or worse, scouting our world.
In July this year, Loeb co-authored a provocative paper with his colleague Eric Kito titled “Is the Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Alien Technology?”
The thesis posits that at least two phenomena associated with this celestial enigma defy conventional explanations: the glow profile and the orbital trajectory.
THE MYSTERIOUS GLOW PROFILE
The Hubble Space Telescope has also been tracking this visitor, capturing detailed images that reveal a distinctive glow pattern. Loeb asserts this glow has an unusually steep brightness profile, much steeper than typically seen in solar system comets, and raises some profound questions about the scale of the cosmic body.
The size of objects in space are estimated by gauging reflecting sunlight. According to Prof. Loeb, with that process, 3I/ATLAS would need to be roughly 20 km in diameter to produce the brightness being observed by analysts. That would make it potentially 40 times larger than previous interstellar visitors like ‘Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov.
However, statistical models show the odds of such a massive interstellar rock wandering into our neighborhood are vanishingly small, perhaps once every 10,000 years or more.
Professor Loeb claims that the usual “natural explanations” for the brightness – like radioactive decay or thermal emissions – are unlikely to apply here, because interstellar space lacks the heavy elements or heat sources to sustain it over eons.
According to Loeb and Kito, the brightness profile they are seeing coming from 3I/ATLAS appears to be consistent with an object that’s producing its own illumination rather than just reflecting light from the sun. This would shrink the object’s estimated size to mere hundreds of meters.
Which means we’re talking a compact, luminous entity zipping through space, powered by something unknown.
THE ORBITAL ECCENTRICITY (TRAJECTORY)
The second prominent anomalous characteristic of 3I/ATLAS is its highly unusual and apparently purposeful trajectory.
As Loeb and Kito point out in their analysis, the object’s “orbital eccentricity” is well above one, which means it’s not gravitationally bound to our sun. And its path is apparently one of the most extreme interstellar trajectories ever recorded.
3I/ATLAS is traveling on a retrograde orbit that’s tilted only about 5 degrees from the ecliptic plane, where Earth and most planets orbit. The probability of this happening by random chance is calculated to be roughly 0.2%.
What’s more intriguing is the planetary encounters.
This object is going to make remarkably close approaches to multiple planets. It’ll pass within about 29 million km of Mars on October 3rd, reach perihelion (the closest planetary orbit to the sun) at 1.35 astronomical units on October 29th, and later swing within 33 million km of Jupiter.
The combined probability of a random interstellar object making such close approaches to three major planets is approximately 0.005%. That’s one in 20,000 odds.
A ‘SUSPICIOUS’ REVERSE SOLAR OBERTH MANEUVER
Another “suspicious” aspect of the object’s trajectory is the fact that it will reach its closest approach to the sun when Earth is on the opposite side of our star.
We literally won’t be able to observe it during this critical phase, while it is cloaked in glare and hidden from our telescopes. As Prof. Loeb has indicated, if you were designing a spacecraft to conduct operations while avoiding scrutiny from Earth-based observatories, this timing would be absolutely perfect.
Loeb calls this a “reverse solar Oberth maneuver”; a braking technique ideal for a craft aiming to linger in our system undetected. He considers it either an incredible coincidence or evidence of deliberate planning.
THE SCIENTIFIC CONSENSUS – NOT ALL AGREE
The majority of astronomers studying 3I/ATLAS disagree with Prof. Loeb and believe it’s a natural interstellar comet.
Astronomer David Jewitt from UCLA, who’s been analysing the Hubble data, believes that 3I/ATLAS is displaying classic signatures of cometary behavior. In an interview with NPR’s Ari Shapiro, Jewitt explained that “The dust production rate and ejection velocities fall within expected ranges for comet activity.”
He also said the fact that scientists and observers haven’t yet detected volatile gases like cyanogen or diatomic carbon emitting from the object isn’t unusual. Jewitt explained that “3I/ATLAS is still about four astronomical units from the sun, roughly Jupiter’s distance. Most comets don’t start showing strong gas emissions until they get much closer, and solar heating really intensifies.”
According to Jewitt and other sceptics, the self-illumination hypothesis also faces challenges. If 3I/ATLAS were generating its own light through some kind of nuclear process, it would need to produce roughly 10 gigawatts of power – equivalent to several large power plants. Maintaining that kind of energy output over the millions of years of interstellar travel would require either an enormous fuel supply or technology far beyond our current understanding.
A BRIEF CRITICAL WINDOW TO SOLVE THIS COSMIC PUZZLE
The next few months represent a critical observation window, crucial for understanding what 3I/ATLAS really represents. As our intergalactic visitor approaches the sun, observers and analysts should start to see those telltale gas emissions, which will confirm whether it is merely a comet.
The James Webb Space Telescope has this object locked in its sights, and its infrared capabilities could reveal unprecedented details about its temperature profile and energy output.
There’s also an exciting possibility involving cutting-edge Mars-based observations.
When 3I/ATLAS passes close to Mars in early October, there’s a prospect of using the high-rise camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to capture high-resolution images. This could give astronomers and other observers their best close-up look at the object’s surface and potentially resolve the question of whether ‘the glow’ is reflected sunlight or self-generated illumination.
The Vera C. Reuben Observatory, a revolutionary facility set up to scan dozens of interstellar objects annually, will provide statistical samples to determine if 3I/ATLAS is natural or truly anomalous.
October’s close approach to Mars, the hidden perihelion passage, and December’s Earth flyby will provide groundbreaking opportunities to solve this cosmic puzzle.
If the self-illumination hypothesis proves correct, the implications are quite literally…Earth-shattering.
It would represent arguably the most significant discovery in human history; proof of visitation by an extraterrestrial civilisation.
‘I HOPE I’M WRONG’ ABOUT 3I/ATLAS – PROF. LOEB
In a radio interview (and follow-up article on Medium), Prof. Avi Loeb confessed that he hopes he’s wrong about 3I/ATLAS. “I will be happier if future data on 3I/ATLAS in the next couple of months shows it to be a natural comet rather than a spacecraft”, he said. “I would be relieved to know that it is just an icy rock, because in that case…humanity will not face any risk.”
Don’t know about you…but I too hope the good prof is wrong.
For reasons you’ll find in the last part of that opening paragraph from Wells’ War of the Worlds:
“Yet, across the gulf of space, minds vast, cool, and unsympathetic…regarded this earth with envious eyes.
And slowly and surely…they drew their plans against us.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK, IS 3I/ATLAS MERELY A COMET, OR POSSIBLY ALIEN TECH?
Let us know by leaving a comment below or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1.
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