NASA on Wednesday released fresh images of the interstellar object called 3I/ATLAS that astronomers have determined is a comet probably older than our solar system, as US space agency officials dismissed speculation that it is actually an alien spacecraft.
3I/ATLAS was first spotted in July by an Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, and has been tracked by astronomers since then. Its unusual trajectory indicated that it was passing through the solar system from parts unknown.
“It’s natural to wonder what it is. We love that the world wondered along with us,” Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, told a news briefing in Greenbelt, Maryland, referring to the comet as “our friendly solar system visitor.”
Photo: Gianluca Masi via AP
“We were quick to be able to say: ‘Yup, it definitely behaves like a comet.’ We certainly haven’t seen any technosignatures or anything from it that would lead us to believe it was anything other than a comet,” Fox said.
3I/ATLAS is only the third interstellar object ever observed by astronomers traveling through the solar system. The others were 1I/’Oumuamua, detected in 2017, and 2I/Borisov, discovered in 2019.
Comets are small solid celestial bodies that are a combination of rocky and icy material that evaporates as they warm when getting close to a star like our sun.
3I/ATLAS has attracted particular attention because of one scientist’s suggestion that it is not a comet, but rather alien technology due to its trajectory, composition and other factors.
At the outset of Wednesday’s briefing, NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya said: “To start with, I’d like to address the rumors” about the nature of 3I/ATLAS.
“I think it’s important that we talk about that. This object is a comet,” Kshatriya said. “It looks and behaves like a comet, and all evidence points to it being a comet.”
Kshatriya said that NASA missions are searching for signs of possible life beyond Earth, pointing to research published in September showing that a sample obtained by NASA’s Perseverance rover of rock formed billions of years ago from sediment on the bottom of a lake contains potential signs of ancient microbial life on Mars.
“We want very much to find signs of life in the universe,” he said.
The pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year, recognizing the effort Japan’s first female leader had to make to reach the top. Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. In a country notorious for long working hours, especially for working women who are also burdened with homemaking and caregiving, overwork is a sensitive topic. The recognition triggered a
Tropical Storm Koto killed three people and left another missing as it approached Vietnam, authorities said yesterday, as strong winds and high seas buffeted vessels off the country’s flood-hit central coast. Heavy rains have lashed Vietnam’s middle belt in recent weeks, flooding historic sites and popular holiday destinations, and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Authorities ordered boats to shore and diverted dozens of flights as Koto whipped up huge waves and dangerous winds, state media reported. Two vessels sank in the rough seas, a fishing boat in Khanh Hoa province and a smaller raft in Lam Dong, according to the
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
The Philippines deferred the awarding of a project that is part of a plan to build one of the world’s longest marine bridges after local opposition over the potential involvement of a Chinese company due to national security fears. The proposals are “undergoing thorough review” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which acts as a lender and an overseer of the project to ensure it meets international environmental and governance standards, the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways said in a statement on Monday in response to queries from Bloomberg. The agency said it would announce the winning bidder once ADB
RSS