A comet the size of Manhattan, known as 3I/ATLAS, is set to reach its closest point to the Sun on October 30. Scientists speculate that this celestial body may have extraterrestrial origins. Although 3I/ATLAS does not complete a traditional orbit around the Sun, its current trajectory will bring it nearer to our solar star before moving away again, a process referred to as perihelion approach, as reported by Space.com.
At its nearest approach, 3I/ATLAS will be approximately 130 million miles from the Sun, just within the orbit of Mars. This distance ensures that the comet will not pose any danger to Earth, passing instead at a distance of about 170 million miles from our planet, according to NASA.com.
Unfortunately for astronomy enthusiasts, the comet will not be visible from Earth during this significant event. After moving to the far side of the Sun in September, it became obscured by solar glare and will remain out of sight even into November. Consequently, ground-based telescopes and instruments in Earth”s orbit will miss the opportunity to observe 3I/ATLAS at perihelion. However, several spacecraft currently exploring our solar system may still have the chance to collect data on this comet. These include missions at Mars, NASA”s Psyche mission, and the Lucy mission targeting Jupiter”s Trojan asteroids. The European Space Agency”s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) will have an advantageous position, although it will not transmit its findings back to Earth until February due to the need to protect its instruments from solar radiation.
Not all experts regard the fly-by of 3I/ATLAS as harmless. Avi Loeb, a scientist from Harvard, has been monitoring the comet since its discovery in July by the James Webb Telescope. He expressed concerns about its close passages to planets such as Jupiter, Venus, and Mars. Loeb suggests that the comet”s unusual trajectory and its non-gravitational acceleration could imply it is a potentially threatening alien probe sent to observe Earth. He also noted a peculiar feature of 3I/ATLAS—a jet of particles that appears to point toward the Sun rather than away from it, which is atypical for comets.
During a recent discussion on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Loeb claimed that NASA might be withholding a photograph taken of the comet on October 2 by the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. He argued that this image could contradict NASA”s assertion that the comet”s tail is not unusual. As of now, NASA has not confirmed the existence of such a photograph and maintains that 3I/ATLAS does not pose a threat to Earth.
