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Harvard Physicist Claims New Interstellar Comet is Alien Probe
Harvard Physicist Claims New Interstellar Comet is Alien Probe

Newsweek

timea day ago

  • Science
  • Newsweek

Harvard Physicist Claims New Interstellar Comet is Alien Probe

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. An unexpected visitor to our solar system spotted earlier this month might be a piece of alien technology—that is, according to one professor from Harvard University. 3I/ATLAS—which is only the third known interstellar object ever recorded—was detected on July 1 by NASA's ATLAS telescope in Chile. Despite being officially classified as a comet, theoretical physicist professor Avi Loebof Harvard University, has argued that the object could have been sent by an alien civilization. Loeb explained that the object's trajectory, size and behavior suggest it could be something far more advanced than a natural occurrence—and could instead be some form of alien craft or probe. "The retrograde orbital plane of 3I/ATLAS around the Sun lies within 5 degrees of that of Earth... The likelihood for that coincidence out of all random orientations is 0.2 percent," Loeb told Newsweek. Despite this, other scientists are skeptical of Loeb's claims. Richard Moissl, Head of Planetary Defence at the European Space Agency told Newsweek: "There have been no signs pointing to non-natural origins of 3I/ATLAS in the available observations." A picture of the observation of comet 3I/ATLAS when it was discovered on July 1, 2025. The NASA-funded ATLAS survey telescope in Chile first reported that the comet originated from interstellar space. A picture of the observation of comet 3I/ATLAS when it was discovered on July 1, 2025. The NASA-funded ATLAS survey telescope in Chile first reported that the comet originated from interstellar space. ATLAS/University of Hawaii/NASA These are not the only anomalies that set 3I/ATLAS apart from typical comets. In addition to its retrograde orbit, Loeb said that the brightness of 3I/ATLAS implies an object that is around 20 kilometers in diameter which he explained is "too large for an interstellar asteroid." "It might have targeted the inner Solar System as expected from alien technology," he added. 3I/ATLAS is expected to pass unusually close to Venus, Mars and Jupiter this fall, an alignment Loeb calculates as having a probability of just 0.005 percent if the arrival time were random. The comet is expected to reach its closest point to the Sun on October 29, when it will be hidden from Earth's view, a detail Loeb finds suspicious. "This could be intentional to avoid detailed observations from Earth-based telescopes," he said. The object also lacks typical cometary features. "No spectral features of cometary gas are found in spectroscopic observations of 3I/ATLAS," Loeb said. A diagram showing the trajectory of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it passes through the solar system. A diagram showing the trajectory of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it passes through the solar system. NASA/JPL-Caltech Unlike Loeb, Moissl believes that the most likely explanation for the object is a natural origin, likely originating from an orbit around a star somewhere in our galaxy. "All observations are in agreement with basic assumptions about a space-weathered natural object with, so far, weak cometary activity," he said. This is not the first time that Loeb has shared an extraterrestrial theory for a space object. In 2022 he theorized that mysterious cosmic object known as 'Oumuamua may be technology from an alien civilization. While emphasizing that this remains a hypothesis, Loeb argues the possibility deserves serious attention. "The consequences, should the hypothesis turn out to be correct, could potentially be dire for humanity," he said. "We better be ready for both options and check whether all interstellar objects are rocks." In the meantime, work is being done to collect as much data as possible about space objects like 3I/ATLAS. "Astronomers around the world are collecting as much data as possible on the orbit and physical properties of the object and how these change in the course of it passing through our solar system," Moissl explained. "Collecting this data will provide us with clues as to what the object is made of and, by proxy, provide some exciting insights into how faraway planetary systems might look." Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about 3I/ATLAS? Let us know via science@

A mysterious, ancient '12-mile wide interstellar visitor' is racing towards us
A mysterious, ancient '12-mile wide interstellar visitor' is racing towards us

Metro

time11-07-2025

  • Science
  • Metro

A mysterious, ancient '12-mile wide interstellar visitor' is racing towards us

It sounds like the start of a cheesy science-fiction film. A gigantic, ancient, icy… thing spotted hurtling towards us by a lonely astronomer. But this is exactly what happened for stargazers following the discovery of a weird interstellar object called 3I/ATLAS, or 'third interstellar', this month. The object is big – possibly as wide 12 miles, larger than the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs – and is speeding towards us at 130,000mph. 3I/Atlas was spotted on July 1 by the NASA-funded ATLAS survey telescope in Río Hurtado, Chile, when it was 420million miles away. After being given the catchy name, 'A11pl3Z', scientists soon realised that the object came from interstellar space. As you read this, 3I/ATLAS is about 416million miles away from the Sun and travelling from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. This is only the third time that astronomers have found an uninvited guest in our solar system. First was Oumuamua, a Manhattan-sized, cigar-shaped rock that passed close to us in 2017. For a time, one astronomer suspected it was an alien spaceship. Then, in 2019, the comet Borisov paid us a drive-by visit. Dr Alfredo Carpineti, an astrophysicist living in London, told Metro that our latest 'interstellar interloper' is 'very exciting'. 'What makes it very special is that this object is very different compared to the previous two visitors, Oumuamua and Comet Borisov. It's moving almost twice as fast, for example,' the senior staff writer for IFLScience said. What first gave away that 3I/Atlas is not of our solar system was its eccentric, hyperbolic orbit, meaning it'll loop around the Sun before being flung back out into space. By tracing its celestial footsteps, Dr Carpineti said, it shows that it 'might come from a whole different region of the galaxy compared to the other two'. 'It might be a lot older, at least 7billion years old,' he added. 'Much older than the solar system.' The trajectory of 3I/ATLAS hints that it came from the Milky Way's 'thick disk' – the retirement home of stars on the outskirts of our galaxy – according to a paper seen by Dr Carpineti for IFLScience. Researchers say 3I/ATLAS probably formed around an ancient star and is made up of a lot of water ice. Scientists say it is a comet, a giant, dirty snowball. As it soars towards the Sun, the ice will melt and create a wispy tail. When sunlight bounces off this plume of gas and dust, called a coma, this makes the object appear very bright. A big clue that 3I/ATLAS is a comet is how bright it is – enough that it's already visible using modest-sized telescopes. Asteroids, space rubble, have far darker surfaces. We'll learn more about what 3I/ATLAS is as it zooms closer and closer to us, Dr Carpineti said. More Trending But don't worry, it won't get too close for comfort. 'This interstellar interloper is a cosmic curiosity and it poses no threat to Earth,' he added. 'The closest it will get to the Sun is 210million kilometres, a little bit closer than Mars,' which would be around Halloween or early December. 'At that point, the Earth will be on the other side of the Sun, so we won't even be able to see it at closest approach.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: The Simpsons predict the future – again – after scientists plan artificial solar eclipse MORE: Earth is spinning so fast that today will be shorter – but is time going faster? MORE: Scientists now believe Earth is sunken near the centre of a giant cosmic void

Our solar system has a new mysterious visitor—what is it?
Our solar system has a new mysterious visitor—what is it?

Yahoo

time10-07-2025

  • Science
  • Yahoo

Our solar system has a new mysterious visitor—what is it?

On July 1, scientists operating a planetary defense facility saw something glimmering in the shadow of Jupiter, about 420 million miles from Earth. It certainly wasn't a near-Earth asteroid, nor was it a regular comet. Within a matter of hours, it became clear that this voyager wasn't even from our solar system: Its orbit was too steep, its speed was too great. Astronomers quickly concluded that this was an interstellar object—a sojourner from another star. These entities are, for the moment, vanishingly rare. This interstellar object is just the third ever confirmed. Serendipitously, scientists caught as it was making its way into the solar system, which means they will get to study it for several months and uncover its many secrets. 'Astronomers around the world will be pointing their telescopes, large and small, at this object… providing us with clues about its home planetary system,' says Sarah Greenstreet, an astronomer at the University of Washington. Here's everything we know so far about our solar system's latest interstellar visitor—and how scientists plan on resolving its mysteries in the coming weeks and months. Like asteroids and comets, interstellar objects are thought to be remnants from a time when planets were first forming or the ruins of wrecked worlds and moons. But instead of originating around our sun, they hail from another planetary system entirely. As such, finding them is of paramount importance to astronomers. 'The more we can learn about other planetary systems from these interstellar visitors, the better we can understand how similar or different our own solar system is to the vast number of other planetary systems that stretch across the Milky Way,' says Greenstreet. (Did a 2014 meteor come from interstellar space?) Only two have been discovered so far. The first, 'Oumuamua, was spotted in 2017, and it was considerably strange: a pancake or cigar-shaped object that behaved like a comet but didn't display any clear signs of cometary activity. Because it was detected as it was already leaving the solar system, astronomers didn't get much time to study it. Theories about its origin run the gamut from plausible (a piece of a dead planet or a particularly odd comet) to the considerably less plausible (an alien spaceship). Then in 2019, astronomers spied a second object called 2I/Borisov, which looked and acted a lot more like a comet. Astronomers managed to scope it out as it was making its way into the solar system, and they got to examine it more closely. A sample size of two makes it difficult to know what interstellar objects are like in general. Astronomers hope that number will increase with the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory's comprehensive 10-year survey of the night sky launching later this year. But for now, this third interstellar object is a nice surprise. The new visitor was detected by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) facility, a network of four autonomous NASA-funded telescopes designed to spot potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroids. ATLAS's station in Chile spotted the interloper during a routine survey. Initially, 'we did not suspect anything unusual about its orbit,' says Larry Denneau, one of the principal investigators of ATLAS at the University of Hawai'i. But that quickly changed when astronomers at other telescopes glimpsed the object, and scientists plotted out its orbit with more precision. (Asteroids with 'unstable orbits' hide around Venus—do they threaten Earth?) Asteroids and comets can have all sorts of orbits, but they all still circumnavigate the Sun. This object, though, was moving too rapidly and in a very elongated manner, which indicated it 'is not bound to the Sun's gravity and will never pass through our solar system again,' says Greenstreet. With everyone in agreement, the object was confirmed and officially given a name: 3I/ATLAS. So, what's it like? A new paper uploaded to the pre-print server arXiv summarizes what scientists know about the interstellar object so far. It clearly has a coma—a hazy bubble of gas created when ice turns into vapor as it's warmed by sunlight. 'Compared to the first two interstellar objects we've discovered, 3I/ATLAS is cometary like 2I/Borisov,' says Greenstreet, meaning, for now, 'Oumuamua remains the weirdo of the group. There are also hints that the object is somewhat red—a tell-tale sign that it's made of primeval matter that coalesced during the early days of its planetary system. So it's probably an extremely old geologic time capsule. 'At the moment, it's difficult to say how big it is,' says Greenstreet. Based on how much sunlight it's reflecting, it could be anywhere from 6 to 15 miles long. That's far bigger than 'Oumuamua (about one-quarter mile long) and 2I/Borisov (two-thirds of a mile long). But its coma and current distance obscure the true size of its likely smaller solid core. Not too much else is known about 3I/ATLAS just yet, but its trajectory through the solar system works in astronomers' favor. 'It'll be moving inwards for a few more months before it starts heading back out again,' says Aster Taylor, a graduate student of astrophysics at the University of Michigan. 'it's moving fast… [but] we'll have time to observe it.' Observatories all around the world, and even those in space, will spend time tracking it. As it dives toward the sun, 3I/ATLAS will also come within 18 million miles of Mars in early October. Several spacecraft are currently orbiting the Red Planet, and they may be able to use their cameras to study 3I/ATLAS's chemistry and other features as it rushes by. Astronomers expect to see plenty more cometary activity. Comets are often made of various types of ice, including frozen carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and water. In the next few weeks, 3I/ATLAS will get close enough to the sun for its water ice to start vaporizing—expanding its coma and lengthening its luminescent tail. 'Be on the lookout for images in the coming months that show off its beautiful cometary features as it makes its relatively short journey through our corner of the galaxy,' says Greenstreet.

Our solar system has a new mysterious visitor—what is it?
Our solar system has a new mysterious visitor—what is it?

National Geographic

time10-07-2025

  • Science
  • National Geographic

Our solar system has a new mysterious visitor—what is it?

Just the third-ever confirmed interstellar object has been detected in our solar system. Here's what we know. (Spoiler: It's not aliens.) The interstellar comet, originally called A11pl3Z and now known as 3I/Atlas, was first reported by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (Atlas) survey telescope at El Sauce Observatory in Río Hurtado, Chile. Photograph by Matt Dieterich On July 1, scientists operating a planetary defense facility saw something glimmering in the shadow of Jupiter, about 420 million miles from Earth. It certainly wasn't a near-Earth asteroid, nor was it a regular comet. Within a matter of hours, it became clear that this voyager wasn't even from our solar system: Its orbit was too steep, its speed was too great. Astronomers quickly concluded that this was an interstellar object—a sojourner from another star. These entities are, for the moment, vanishingly rare. This interstellar object is just the third ever confirmed. Serendipitously, scientists caught as it was making its way into the solar system, which means they will get to study it for several months and uncover its many secrets. 'Astronomers around the world will be pointing their telescopes, large and small, at this object… providing us with clues about its home planetary system,' says Sarah Greenstreet, an astronomer at the University of Washington. Here's everything we know so far about our solar system's latest interstellar visitor—and how scientists plan on resolving its mysteries in the coming weeks and months. This image shows the observation of comet 3I/ATLAS when it was discovered on July 1, 2025. The NASA-funded ATLAS survey telescope in Chile first reported that the comet originated from interstellar space. Photograph by ATLAS/University of Hawaii/NASA This animation shows the observations of comet 3I/ATLAS when it was discovered on July 1, 2025. The NASA-funded ATLAS survey telescope in Chile first reported that the comet originated from interstellar space. Animation by ATLAS/University of Hawaii/NASA Like asteroids and comets, interstellar objects are thought to be remnants from a time when planets were first forming or the ruins of wrecked worlds and moons. But instead of originating around our sun, they hail from another planetary system entirely. As such, finding them is of paramount importance to astronomers. 'The more we can learn about other planetary systems from these interstellar visitors, the better we can understand how similar or different our own solar system is to the vast number of other planetary systems that stretch across the Milky Way,' says Greenstreet. (Did a 2014 meteor come from interstellar space?) Only two have been discovered so far. The first, 'Oumuamua, was spotted in 2017, and it was considerably strange: a pancake or cigar-shaped object that behaved like a comet but didn't display any clear signs of cometary activity. Because it was detected as it was already leaving the solar system, astronomers didn't get much time to study it. Theories about its origin run the gamut from plausible (a piece of a dead planet or a particularly odd comet) to the considerably less plausible (an alien spaceship). Then in 2019, astronomers spied a second object called 2I/Borisov, which looked and acted a lot more like a comet. Astronomers managed to scope it out as it was making its way into the solar system, and they got to examine it more closely. A sample size of two makes it difficult to know what interstellar objects are like in general. Astronomers hope that number will increase with the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory's comprehensive 10-year survey of the night sky launching later this year. But for now, this third interstellar object is a nice surprise. The new visitor was detected by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) facility, a network of four autonomous NASA-funded telescopes designed to spot potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroids. ATLAS's station in Chile spotted the interloper during a routine survey. Initially, 'we did not suspect anything unusual about its orbit,' says Larry Denneau, one of the principal investigators of ATLAS at the University of Hawai'i. But that quickly changed when astronomers at other telescopes glimpsed the object, and scientists plotted out its orbit with more precision. (Asteroids with 'unstable orbits' hide around Venus—do they threaten Earth?) Asteroids and comets can have all sorts of orbits, but they all still circumnavigate the Sun. This object, though, was moving too rapidly and in a very elongated manner, which indicated it 'is not bound to the Sun's gravity and will never pass through our solar system again,' says Greenstreet. With everyone in agreement, the object was confirmed and officially given a name: 3I/ATLAS. So, what's it like? The knowns and unknowns of 3I/ATLAS A new paper uploaded to the pre-print server arXiv summarizes what scientists know about the interstellar object so far. It clearly has a coma—a hazy bubble of gas created when ice turns into vapor as it's warmed by sunlight. 'Compared to the first two interstellar objects we've discovered, 3I/ATLAS is cometary like 2I/Borisov,' says Greenstreet, meaning, for now, 'Oumuamua remains the weirdo of the group. There are also hints that the object is somewhat red—a tell-tale sign that it's made of primeval matter that coalesced during the early days of its planetary system. So it's probably an extremely old geologic time capsule. 'At the moment, it's difficult to say how big it is,' says Greenstreet. Based on how much sunlight it's reflecting, it could be anywhere from 6 to 15 miles long. That's far bigger than 'Oumuamua (about one-quarter mile long) and 2I/Borisov (two-thirds of a mile long). But its coma and current distance obscure the true size of its likely smaller solid core. Not too much else is known about 3I/ATLAS just yet, but its trajectory through the solar system works in astronomers' favor. 'It'll be moving inwards for a few more months before it starts heading back out again,' says Aster Taylor, a graduate student of astrophysics at the University of Michigan. 'it's moving fast… [but] we'll have time to observe it.' Observatories all around the world, and even those in space, will spend time tracking it. As it dives toward the sun, 3I/ATLAS will also come within 18 million miles of Mars in early October. Several spacecraft are currently orbiting the Red Planet, and they may be able to use their cameras to study 3I/ATLAS's chemistry and other features as it rushes by. Astronomers expect to see plenty more cometary activity. Comets are often made of various types of ice, including frozen carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and water. In the next few weeks, 3I/ATLAS will get close enough to the sun for its water ice to start vaporizing—expanding its coma and lengthening its luminescent tail. 'Be on the lookout for images in the coming months that show off its beautiful cometary features as it makes its relatively short journey through our corner of the galaxy,' says Greenstreet.

Nasa finds an alien snowball that is travelling towards us at 2 lakh kmph; Here's when and how you can spot it
Nasa finds an alien snowball that is travelling towards us at 2 lakh kmph; Here's when and how you can spot it

Economic Times

time08-07-2025

  • Science
  • Economic Times

Nasa finds an alien snowball that is travelling towards us at 2 lakh kmph; Here's when and how you can spot it

The NASA-funded ATLAS telescope in Chile detected interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on July 1st, originating from Sagittarius. Pre-discovery observations extend back to June 14th, with numerous telescopes contributing data. The comet poses no threat to Earth, reaching its closest solar approach around October 30th, and astronomers are studying its size and properties. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads NASA has discovered an interstellar comet that's wandered into our backyard. The US' national space agency spotted the quick-moving object with the Atlas telescope in Chile earlier this week, and confirmed it was a comet from another star system."On July 1, the NASA-funded ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) survey telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, first reported observations of a comet that originated from interstellar space. Arriving from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius, the interstellar comet has been officially named 3I/ATLAS. It is currently located about 420 million miles (670 million kilometers) away," said NASA in a press that first report, observations from before the discovery have been gathered from the archives of three different ATLAS telescopes around the world and the Zwicky Transient Facility at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California. These 'pre-discovery' observations extend back to June 14. Numerous telescopes have reported additional observations since the object was first newest visitor is 416 million miles (670 million kilometers) from the sun, out near Jupiter, and heading this way at a blistering 37 miles (59 kilometers) per second. After converting, 59 km/s translates into 212,400 km/ comet poses no threat to Earth and will remain at a distance of at least 1.6 astronomical units (about 150 million miles or 240 million km). It is currently about 4.5 au (about 416 million miles or 670 million km) from the Sun. 3I/ATLAS will reach its closest approach to the Sun around Oct. 30, at a distance of 1.4 au (about 130 million miles or 210 million km) — just inside the orbit of interstellar comet's size and physical properties are being investigated by astronomers around the world. 3I/ATLAS should remain visible to ground-based telescopes through September, after which it will pass too close to the Sun to observe. It is expected to reappear on the other side of the Sun by early December, allowing for renewed said the comet will make its closest approach to the sun in late October, scooting between the orbits of Mars and Earth — but closer to the red planet than us at a safe 150 million miles (240 million kilometers) comet should be visible by telescopes through September, before it gets too close to the sun, and reappear in December on the other side of the on its brightness, the comet appears to be bigger than the first two interstellar interlopers, possibly several miles (tens of kilometers) across, Chodas said. It's coming in faster, too, from a different direction, and while its home star is unknown, scientists suspect it was closer to the center of our Milky Way first interstellar visitor observed from Earth was Oumuamua, Hawaiian for scout, in honor of the observatory in Hawaii that discovered it in 2017. Classified at first as an asteroid, the elongated Oumuamua has since showed signs of being a second object confirmed to have strayed from another star system into our own — 21/Borisov — was discovered in 2019 by a Crimean amateur astronomer with that name. It, too, is believed to be a comet.'We've been expecting to see interstellar objects for decades, frankly, and finally we're seeing them,' Chodas said. 'A visitor from another solar system, even though it's natural — it's not artificial, don't get excited because some people do ... It's just very exciting."

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