{"id":260004,"date":"2025-11-03T16:12:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T16:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/260004\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T16:12:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T16:12:07","slug":"mysterious-interstellar-visitor-object-abruptly-lights-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/260004\/","title":{"rendered":"Mysterious Interstellar Visitor Object Abruptly Lights Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since it was first spotted in early July<\/a>, scientists have been fascinated by 3I\/ATLAS \u2014 the third object in history to have been spotted cruising through our solar system from interstellar space.<\/p>\n

The visitor, which is generally suspected to be a comet<\/a>, has been racing through our star system at a blistering velocity, reaching its closest point to the Sun on October 29<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During that close approach, scientists were surprised to note that 3I\/ATLAS brightened much faster than they anticipated<\/a>. Comets commonly form a tail of gas and dust as they approach the Sun, as its radiation causes solid ice to sublimate into gas, causing material to be stripped from their surface that then reflects more light.<\/p>\n

However, astronomers were caught off guard by how quickly 3I\/ATLAS\u2019 luminosity grew in observations by two solar observatories, NASA\u2019s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), and the European Space Agency\u2019s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s GOES-19 weather satellite.<\/p>\n

Relying on these observatories is a stopgap measure, since Earth-based observatories won\u2019t be able to track the object until it reemerges from behind the Sun in early December.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason for 3I\u2019s rapid brightening, which far exceeds the brightening rate of most Oort cloud comets at similar [radial distance], remains unclear,\u201d Naval Research Laboratory astrophysicist Karl Battams and Lowell Observatory postdoctoral fellow Qicheng Zhang wrote in a yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper<\/a> about the \u201crapid brightening.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, they provided several theories as to why 3I\/ATLAS may have lit up much faster than expected. For one, it could be the object\u2019s immense speed. It\u2019s been traveling at a speed of roughly 137,000 mph, significantly faster<\/a> than either of the two previously discovered interstellar objects.<\/p>\n

Or it could have something to do with the object\u2019s composition itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cOddities in nucleus properties like composition, shape, or structure \u2014 which might have been acquired from its host system or over its long interstellar journey \u2014 may likewise contribute [to the rapid brightening],\u201d Zhan and Battams wrote.<\/p>\n

The astronomers also found that 3I\/ATLAS is \u201cdistinctly bluer than the Sun,\u201d which is \u201cconsistent with gas emission contributing a substantial fraction of the visible brightness near perihelion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet many questions remain, and we\u2019ll have to await future observations to shed more light on the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout an established physical explanation, the outlook for 3I\u2019s postperihelion behavior remains uncertain, and a plateau in brightness \u2014 or even a brief continuation of its preperihelion brightening \u2014 appears as plausible as rapid fading past perihelion,\u201d the researchers added. <\/p>\n

For now, astronomers will have to remain patient as 3I\/ATLAS continues to be hidden from Earth\u2019s view behind the Sun.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing its 2025 October 29 perihelion, 3I makes a return to twilight and subsequently dark, night skies over 2025 November\u2013December,\u201d the paper reads, which could allow us to once again \u201ccharacterize the comet in far greater detail than possible with the data we have presented.\u201d<\/p>\n

More on 3I\/ATLAS: Nine Reasons This Scientist Is Suspicious the Object Screaming Past the Sun Is a City-Sized Alien Spacecraft<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since it was first spotted in early July, scientists have been fascinated by 3I\/ATLAS \u2014 the third object…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[64,63,128,285],"class_list":{"0":"post-260004","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-space"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}