7 Big Mysteries about Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS
Scientists are racing to learn as much as possible
about the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS
before it fades from view forever.
Scientific American
07/17/25
(And no I'm not going to get all over them
like I did Gizmodo, for calling it a comet,
it has to be called something.
The point in the Gizmodo piece was
the over the top nature in calling it a comet so many times
(redundant redundancy so to speak.)
while leaving out other important details
which revealed a built in bias.
They have already convinced the world it is a comet
and that is what they are gonna call it,
fact is, they have no idea what it is.
"7 Big mysteries"
Seven is the number
for what in the bible?
Completion.
Interesting.
Lets get to it.)
"Earlier this month astronomers were thrilled to discover only the third known interstellar object ever seen in our solar system."
(Forth, see:
also known as Interstellar meteor 1.)
"The high speed and hyperbolic trajectory of 3I/ATLAS means it must have come from another star and was cast adrift in the Milky Way by some unknown process before it eventually, by chance, briefly swooped by our sun."
(It might be an unknown process to them,
or to you, but it sure aint to me.
And? In the next piece?
"By Chance"
will be conclusively proven
to be an erroneous assumption.)
"That’s why astronomers have been racing to study 3I/ATLAS since July 1, when Larry Denneau of the University of Hawaii first spied it using a telescope in Chile that’s part of the globe-spanning Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS)."
(Last alert system.
Interesting thats what found it
don't ya think?)
#1) "Where did 3I/ATLAS come from?"
"...it might have come from the vicinity of our galaxy’s thick disk. This is a puffy torus of older stars moving at high velocities above and below the main flat plane of the Milky Way—which is where our sun serenely orbits."
(Image not from that article.)
"A thick-disk origin might mean that 3I/ATLAS is extremely ancient, more than eight billion years old. “It’s from a star that’s potentially not even there anymore,” says Michele Bannister of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, a co-author on the work."
"Aster Taylor of the University of Michigan performed a different age analysis based on the trajectory of 3I/ATLAS and suggests the object is 11 billion to three billion years old. “We get similar answers,” Taylor says. Such estimates might soon be revised if subsequent observations can show just how much space weathering the object has endured during its interstellar sojourn."
#2 "How big is it?
Currently, 3I/ATLAS is inside the orbit of Jupiter and approaching the orbit of Mars, which it will cross in October, passing about 0.2 astronomical units (one fifth the Earth-sun distance) from the Red Planet.
("The comet will also
whip by Mars on October 2
at 18 million miles
(30 million kilometers)
from the red planet.
This is a relatively close pass,
astronomically speaking."
CNN 07/03/25
Im like 35 article into this subject or so now
and nobody has ever mentioned anything
about any kind of energy transfer
between these two bodies
(Mars and 3I/ATLAS)
being this close together?
Or
"a hypothesis about
a near pass by of Mars"
34:36 mark
Or
Universe today November 22, 2024
"the authors propose a near miss by a large asteroid.
If an asteroid passed close enough to Mars,
the tidal forces of the planet
would rip the asteroid apart
to create a string of fragments.
All these experts writing all their crap
and not one has mentioned
anything about any of those threee things?
IM THE ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD
WHO HAS EVER HEARD OF
OR KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT
THOSE THREE THINGS?
I just find that a lil hard to believe.
All these experts talking all their shit
and nobody mentions any part
of any of those three things?
of any of those three things?
WHY?
The answer is pretty obvious.
)"Although early observations have led astronomers to categorize 3I/ATLAS as a comet, at the moment, it’s not behaving exactly like one. The object doesn’t display a large tail or enveloping coma of cast-off gas, only a hint of dust—but that is expected to change soon."
(Hillbilly translation:
"Hey Bob?"
"Yeah"
"You know that thing that has defied
all of our expectations to date so far?"
"Yeah Jim."
"Well here pretty soon
it's gonna start matching up
with our expectations
of it."
"Exactly what is that line of reasoning
based on there Jim?"
Crickets...
"Seems to violate
if you ask me.")
"As it traverses the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and basks in the sun’s radiance, its surface should warm enough to sublimate ice,"
("Like 2I/Borisov,
there are no obvious signatures
of water ice
in the coma of 3I/ATLAS.
07/16/25
Could change but I don't think its going to.
To many anomalies just isn't a coincidence.
Not in the days (Last) we are living in.)
"Before that happens, a team led by David Jewitt at the University of California, Los Angeles, is hoping to pin down its size with Hubble in August. (Other telescopes might be able to determine the size of 3I/ATLAS, too.)"
"Initial estimates suggested 3I/ATLAS might be up 20 kilometers (12 miles) across—very big for a comet—but most astronomers now think it is much smaller. “It’s probably somewhere in the range of one or two kilometers,” says John Noonan at Auburn University in Alabama.
(I get that it is a fluid situation and somethings we just wont know till it gets closer but what is: "most astronomers now think it is much smaller. “It’s probably somewhere in the range of one or two kilometers,” says John Noonan" based on?
And who are the "most astronomers" and what evidence did they present to reach the conclusion: now think it is much smaller. “It’s probably somewhere in the range of one or two kilometers? Because no evidence is offered here, just opinions.)
"That would be somewhat comparable in size to our first two interstellar visitors: 1I/ʻOumuamua, which was discovered in 2017 and was up to about 400 meters (0.25 mile) long, and 2I/Borisov,
(Oh the other interstellar comet that didnt show
any obvious signs of ice? Interesting.)
"which was found in 2019 and was about
one kilometer (0.6 mile) wide."
"If 3I/ATLAS turns out to be much bigger, 10 kilometers (six miles) or more, this would pose problems for preexisting estimates of how many big interstellar objects reside in the galaxy. “It’s statistically extremely unlikely we should ever see something that size,” Noonan says. “Theorists don’t like that. But as an observer, I would love to see a really weird, big object.”
(Based solely on the fact that it has defied expectations about everything else?
Why wouldnt it: "pose problems for preexisting estimates of how many big interstellar objects reside in the galaxy"
(Hillbilly Translation:
"Our preexisting estimates have to be correct Bob.
We cant possibly be wrong.
This thing needs to start having characteristics
like we want it to have.")
#3 "How fast is it spinning?"
"The rotation period can also tell us more about the shape of 3I/ATLAS—a steady rotation suggests a fairly spherical form, whereas a fluctuating rotation speed might suggest a “wonky shape,” Taylor says, like that of ‘Oumuamua, which was estimated to be cigar- or pancake-shaped."
#4 What is 3I/ATLAS made of?
"If 3I/ATLAS really is an ancient cometary castaway that has been drifting through the galaxy for eons, it might be full of ice that has never been heated by a star. If so, then as it gets closer, the object might suddenly erupt into activity. While that could be bad news for measuring its size, it would aid efforts to determine 3I/ATLAS’s chemical composition."
("Like 2I/Borisov,
there are no obvious signatures
of water ice
in the coma of 3I/ATLAS.
Cornell University arxiv.org 07/16/25)
"JWST and Hubble would be best suited for the task of picking apart the different species of molecules that might erupt from 3I/ATLAS. Unfortunately, however, in October, when the object will be at its warmest, closest point to our star (called perihelion), Earth will be on the other side of the sun. This will make observations from our planet almost impossible."
(Think that is an accident? I don't, and "in October", it will be closest to Mars shortly before it is to its "closest point to our star")
"If the object is several billion years old, as predicted, then it might be rich in water because of the suspected formation environment around older stars.
“You would expect a lot of hydrogen
coming from these water-rich
irradiated objects,
if this is really as old as [thought],”
Noonan says."
(Not really,
Hello?
"...heating by interstellar starlight would quickly destroy pure hydrogen layers, not allowing them to reach the solar system as `Oumuamua did.'"
"Milam and her colleagues, meanwhile, will use JWST in August and December to observe 3I/ATLAS before and after perihelion. Thanks to its keen infrared vision, JWST is better suited for teasing out the presence of molecules such as water, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and ammonia."
"Although the overall view from Earth degrades as the object approaches perihelion, some telescopes will be less visually impaired. Those operated by the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, for instance, are primed to observe 3I/ATLAS at dawn and dusk, when the sun is below the horizon. This will allow for studies even when the object will be close to our star from our planet-bound perspective. “The Lowell Discovery Telescope is really well suited to observations close to the horizon,” says Nick Moskowitz, an astronomer at Lowell Observatory. “We will be able to track it closer in to perihelion than other facilities.”
"An unlikely additional capability will be at Mars, where spacecraft such as NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) orbiter may be able to see 3I/ATLAS as it passes about 30 million kilometers (19 million miles) from the planet. “It’ll be pretty large and apparent in the sky,” Noonan says, providing the object kicks into activity as hoped. “They’ll be able to see the coma,” giving us an insight into 3I/ATLAS’s activity near the sun that would otherwise be impossible to see from Earth."
"#5 Will it survive?
A big unknown about 3I/ATLAS is whether it will actually survive its close encounter with our sun. While ‘Oumuamua did so, Comet Borisov was not so fortunate, with the object appearing to split and break apart on its way out of our solar system."
"The same fate could befall 3I/ATLAS. “Borisov fragmented, which is pretty usual for comets,” Bannister says. All eyes will be on our latest visitor to see if the same thing happens again."
(This thing is gonna fragment too.
Count on it.)
"An additional quirk of 3I/ATLAS’s survivability is the impact of solar wind, which may snip away any cometary tail as it is ejected. By chance, the object is entering our solar system at quite a shallow angle, much flatter than that of most comets and thus much closer to Earth’s orbital plane, allowing careful comparisons between the solar wind in both places."
(Thats two
"By Chance(s)" in this article.
As the number of
"By Chance(s)" increases?
The likelihood of those things being
"By Chance"
decreases.
Read it again.
More on this in the next piece.)
#8 "Could we reach it?
No spacecraft will be able to reach 3I/ATLAS. It is moving too fast and is too far from Earth for us to consider launching something in time."
#9 "How many are there?
One of our biggest outstanding questions about interstellar objects concerns their unknown abundance. The object 3I/ATLAS is our third interstellar visitor in eight years—a real but weak hint of how many are out there, waiting to be found."
(Think about those #'s for a minute:
8 = a new beginning.
3 = Perfection, The Trinity.
and everybody keeps forgetting about:
"One puzzling question is why we haven’t seen much smaller interstellar objects, Moskowitz says. If smaller objects are more plentiful than larger objects, as scientists expect, then we should have seen some small interstellar objects entering our atmosphere, appearing as meteors streaking across Earth’s skies at speeds and trajectories that clearly convey their interstellar origins.
"Detections of such objects have been claimed, but the evidence behind them has failed to convince most experts. The apparent absence of small interstellar interlopers “is telling us something, but we don’t know what that is yet,” Moskowitz says. “I think that’s going to be one of the major questions: Why are we seeing these big cometlike things coming through the solar system, but we’re not seeing things that are smaller? It may have to do with the survivability of stuff out there in the galaxy, but we need more data.”
More comin...
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