Image credit: NASA
The US space agency has collected these images from various agency missions and will be shown at a live event on November 19, at 3 pm EST (1.30 am IST) from the Goddard Space Flight Center. its path did bring it within 19 million miles of Mars in early October While the comet poses no danger to Earth and will maintain a distance of at least 170 million miles. The comet has recently drawn considerable public attention and professional scrutiny due to its unusual characteristics and a highly publicised theory that it could be an alien probe.
Comet 3I/ATLAS is only the third object confirmed to have entered our solar system from outside the galaxy. NASA is set to share new photos of the interstellar visitor Comet 3I/ATLAS. Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has been a prominent voice in the discussion, suggesting the object’s unique properties could indicate non-natural origins. He noted the comet exhibits an unusual tail orientation, along with a peculiar plume that releases four grams of nickel per second without any corresponding iron, a process not typically seen in comets. Loeb has also mentioned the comet’s atypical nongravitational acceleration and trajectory that will bring it near major planets. These discussions gained widespread traction following a popular podcast appearance featuring the comet and its characteristics. NASA missions gathered this imagery as the object journeyed through the inner solar system.
Discovered in July by the NASA-funded ATLAS observatory, its physical behaviour has been described as alien to any previously observed comet.
When asked whether ATLAS could be an alien spacecraft, Musk said a nickel-built craft would be cumbersome and destructive if it hit Earth. Musk also promised that if he ever learns of objective evidence of aliens, he would reveal it on Rogan’s show and stated publicly that he is “never committing suicide.” The NASA event will be available to watch on NASA+, the NASA app, the agency’s website and YouTube channel, as well as Amazon Prime. Members of the public can also submit questions using #AskNASA on social media, and some of them may be answered during the broadcast. NASA’s science mission photos will allow participants to observe 3I/ATLAS for nearly its entire passage through our region of space. Using different instruments and vantage points, both in spacecraft throughout the solar system and at ground-based observatories, scientists can study how the comet behaves from multiple perspectives. During a recent podcast episode with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Joe Rogan discussed interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. Rogan pointed out that scientists detected nickel in the comet’s gas cloud, noting its everyday use in industrial materials on Earth. However, Musk suggested the comet could be influenced by something other than gravity, but also offered a more straightforward explanation, saying comets and asteroids often contain nickel and that some nickel deposits on Earth came from past impacts.
Interested individuals who want to join the NASA live event online must email their full name, media organisation, email address, and phone number to Molly Wasser at [email protected] at least two hours before the event begins.