3I/ATLAS

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Existing NASA Spacecraft Could Intercept the Weird Interstellar Object Cruising Into Our Star System​

Victor Tangermann

Thu, July 31, 2025 at 2:21 AM GMT+8

Earlier this month, astronomers noticed a mysterious object speeding toward the inner solar system from outside of our star system.

It's an exceedingly rare occurrence, marking only the third confirmed interstellar object to have ventured into our solar system, all of which have been detected since 2017.

Harvard astronomer and alien hunter Avi Loeb was quick to raise the tantalizing — albeit admittedly far-fetched — possibility that the object, dubbed 3I/ATLAS, could have been an alien probe sent to us by an intelligent civilization.

And now, in a twist right out of Stanley Kubrick's 1968 "2001: A Space Odyssey," he's suggesting a way that we could use an existing spacecraft to intercept the object's path to test that very hypothesis.

In a yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper, the researcher argued that NASA's Juno spacecraft, which was designed to study Jupiter and launched in 2011, could get eerily close to 3I/ATLAS by March 14, 2026.

Juno would have to apply a thrust of 1.66 miles per second on September 14, 2025, Loeb calculated, to intercept the mysterious object's path.

"The close encounter of 3I/ATLAS to Jupiter provides a rare opportunity to shift Juno from its current orbit around Jupiter to intercept the path of 3I/ATLAS at its closest approach to Jupiter," he wrote in a new blog post about the proposal.

While it's technically not a rendezvous — the object's "excessively high hyperbolic speed" wouldn't allow for such a meeting — Juno's arsenal of scientific instruments "can all be used to probe the nature of 3I/ATLAS from a close distance," Loeb argued.

Whether the spacecraft, which has been soaring through space for 14 years now, would have enough fuel to even pull off such a stunt remains unclear.

But Loeb argues it could "rejuvenate Juno’s mission and extend its scientific lifespan beyond" the potential intercept some eight months from now.

The news comes as scientists are still racing to get a better sense of 3I/ATLAS' exact nature. Last week, the recently inaugurated Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile had a closer look, finding that the object is roughly seven miles wide, making it the largest interstellar object ever spotted.

The prevailing and most widely accepted theory suggests that 3I/ATLAS is a comet, with previous observations supporting the idea that its coma, or surrounding cloud of ice, dust, and gas, was anywhere up to 15 miles across

 

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Scientist Claims Mysterious Interstellar Comet Could Be Alien Technology.Here's What We Know​

While most experts consider it a typical icy comet, Loeb's theory has reignited discussions on the possibility of extraterrestrial technology.​

• Edited by:Nikhil Pandey
• Science
• Jul 31, 2025 11:31 am IST

Read Time:2 mins

Comet 3I/ATLAS confirmed in July as originating beyond our solar system.

A newly detected interstellar object, named 3I/ATLAS, has captured the attention of scientists worldwide due to its mysterious origin and rapid journey through our solar system. Identified earlier in July by a telescope in Chile that is part of NASA's ATLAS project, the comet is only the third known object to visit our solar system from beyond.

Measuring over 12 miles in width and traveling at a speed of 37 miles per second relative to the Sun, 3I/ATLAS is expected to pass within 130 million miles of Earth on October 30, 2025. Initial observations led astronomers to believe it was an asteroid, but follow-up studies confirmed it as a comet of interstellar origin.

However, a new paper co-authored by Harvard University astrophysicist Avi Loeb has introduced a provocative theory: What if 3I/ATLAS is not just a natural object, but an example of alien technology?

Loeb, a well-known figure in the scientific community for his bold ideas about extraterrestrial life, leads the Galileo Project-a scientific initiative to search for alien technology. In the new paper, uploaded to the preprint server arXiv on July 16, Loeb and his colleagues analyze the comet's unusual speed and trajectory. The paper has not been peer-reviewed and is described by Loeb as a theoretical "pedagogical exercise."

While the majority of scientists believe 3I/ATLAS is a typical icy comet, Loeb's suggestion encourages researchers to keep an open mind. He emphasized in a blog post that the idea is meant to inspire curiosity and scientific exploration, not confirm alien presence.

 

[Vlad Tepes]

You into rocket labs?

 

[Sialoquent]

You into rocket labs?

No. I hope to see an alien in my lifetime on earth. Should be a game changer for everyone on this planet. Exciting.

 

[Vlad Tepes]

No. I hope to see an alien in my lifetime on earth. Should be a game changer for everyone on this planet. Exciting.

WIth vagina or penis?

 

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Mysterious Object Hurtling Toward Us From Beyond Solar System Appears to Be Emitting Its Own Light, Scientists Find​

One possibility, he suggests: it's a "spacecraft powered by nuclear energy."​

Aug 18, 3:15 PM EDT by Victor Tangermann

Image by Getty / Futurism

Mysterious Object Hurtling Toward Us From Beyond Solar System Appears to Be Emitting Its Own Light, Scientists Find​

One possibility, he suggests: it's a "spacecraft powered by nuclear energy."​

Aug 18, 3:15 PM EDT by Victor Tangermann

Image by Getty / Futurism


Last month, astronomers made an exciting discovery, observing an interstellar object — only the third ever observed — hurtling toward the center of the solar system.

The object, dubbed 3I/ATLAS, has caught the attention of Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb, who has a long track record of making controversial predictions about previous interstellar objects being relics from an extraterrestrial civilization.

While there's been a growing consensus among astronomers that the latest object is a comet, Loeb has continued to entertain the idea that it may have been sent to us by an intelligent species from outside of the solar system — and he's far from backing down.

In a blog post over the weekend, Loeb pointed to observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, which showed a "glow of light, likely from a coma, ahead of the motion of 3I/ATLAS towards the Sun."

A coma is the hazy and luminous cloud that surrounds the nucleus of a comet.

However, there's "no evidence for a bright cometary tail in the opposite direction," he wrote, with scientists suggesting it was evidence that dust was evaporating from the object's Sun-facing side.

The observations led Loeb and his colleagues to an intriguing, albeit far-fetched possibility: is the mysterious space object generating "its own light?"

After deliberations with his colleague and Harvard astrophysicist Eric Keto, Loeb suggested that the "simplest interpretation" of 3I/ATLAS' observed "steep brightness profile" is that its nucleus "produces most of the light."

That would also mean that its actual size is much smaller than currently thought, roughly in line with the size of the first two interstellar objects we've observed, 'Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov.

The Harvard astronomer suggested two possibilities: either 3I/ATLAS is naturally emitting radiation because its a "rare fragment from the core of a nearby supernova that is rich in radioactive material" — or it's a "spacecraft powered by nuclear energy, and the dust emitted from its frontal surface might be from dirt that accumulated on its surface during its interstellar travel."

Loeb deemed the former explanation "highly unlikely," and the latter as requiring "better evidence to be viable."

Loeb previously argued that the object's unusual trajectory — which includes suspiciously close flybys of both Earth and Jupiter — and its lack of a visible tail both undermine the theory that it's a comet.

Intriguingly, 3I/ATLAS will come within spitting distance — at least in astronomical terms — of Mars this fall, giving us a tantalizing opportunity to have a first-hand look. Loeb suggested using NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to point its scientific instruments at the rare visitor.

Best of all, scientists at the space agency appear to be game.

"This morning, I encouraged the HiRISE team to use their camera during the first week of October 2025 in order to gather new data on 3I/ATLAS," Loeb wrote. "They responded favorably."

 

[Sialoquent]

The end is near...

 

[zhihau]

Where is Captain Goh when you need him?