NASA's Latest 3I/ATLAS Images Show a Strange Feature Of the Comet

The US space agency NASA has released the highest-resolution images to date of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter during its close pass by the Red Planet in October. This data release has intensified scientific debate, particularly after Harvard physicist Avi Loeb cited anomalous plume trajectories as potential evidence of extraterrestrial technology, a claim NASA explicitly refutes.

Loeb, a proponent of the theory that 3I/ATLAS might be an alien spacecraft, identified irregularities in the comet's emissions. He notes that the jets emanating from 3I/ATLAS appear to align with its direction of motion rather than the Sun, a deviation from typical cometary behavior. Loeb suggests this unusual trajectory could signify a technological signature, perhaps indicating an object clearing its path from hazardous micrometeorites.

NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya has pushed back against Loeb's speculative claims. During a livestream unveiling the observations, Kshatriya affirmed that 3I/ATLAS is unequivocally a comet, behaving consistent with cometary characteristics. The agency emphasizes that all available evidence points to its natural, cometary origin, despite its fascinating interstellar provenance.

3I/ATLAS is confirmed to have originated from outside our Solar System, with researchers estimating it to be billions of years old, potentially predating the Sun itself. This makes the object a unique window into the deep past and other solar systems, regardless of the ongoing debate surrounding its more unusual features. NASA continues to observe 3I/ATLAS through multiple instruments, including the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) and various sun-monitoring spacecraft, to further understand its composition and behavior.