Should we be concerned? According to Neil deGrasse Tyson, folks are buzzing about a “possible alien flyby in the next six to seven weeks” thanks to a massive celestial object exhibiting unusual behavior in our solar system.
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Originally named A11pl3Z — now named 3I/ATLAS, after the Chile telescope that discovered it — the Manhattan-sized interstellar comet is now capturing worldwide attention, and scientists say its presence could have far-reaching implications for humanity.
According to astrophysicist and science communicator Tyson, 3I/ATLAS is only the third object confirmed to have ever entered our solar system with an orbit not bound by our sun. Researchers have estimated that this object is huge, potentially up to 20 kilometers in size while traveling at 245,000 kilometers per hour.
While this body appears to be coming close to Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, the stats behind these odds are staggering — less than 0.005%, per the Hayden Planetarium director.
Harvard scientist Avi Loeb predicts that the comet could be an extraterrestrial “trojan horse,” per the New York Post. He also urged that the scientific community remain vigilant and develop a defense plan in the case that 3I/ATLAS turns out to be a “Black Swan event” — defined as an unexpected occurrence with “massive impact” that can only be rationalized in hindsight, according to 4Strat.
“It’s at least a thousand times more massive than the previous interstellar objects we’ve seen,” the astrophysicist stated per the Post. “And the question is, why is such a giant object delivered to our inner solar system, when we saw only small ones before?”
While NASA classifies the object as a harmless comet, per Economic Times, Loeb described the matter similar to a “blind date,” where he detailed: “You often assume that the dating partner would be very friendly, but you have to worry about serial killers, as well.”
Hawaii’s Keck II telescope suggests that 3I/ATLAS is releasing nickel with almost no traces of iron, a composition typically seen only in man-made nickel alloys, per News Nation. “We only find this in industrially produced nickel alloys,” Loeb explained.
The Harvard astrophysicist has become a familiar figure in coverage of 3I/ATLAS due to his head-turning theory that the comet could be some form of alien technology, per the outlet.
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