With the buzz surrounding the interstellar comet named 3I/ATLAS, scientists are focused on tracking its movements for any other unusual signs. One scientist in particular, Harvard astrophysicist Dr. Avi Loeb, spotted potential anomalies found in the interstellar comet, calling on NASA to release the information it has on the entity.
Speaking to Newsmax, Dr. Loeb said that there is an anomalous brightening on 3I/ATLAS with a shift to blue wavelengths following the perihelion passage on Wednesday and Thursday. According to Dr. Loeb, this suggests that there are temperatures and mechanisms being displayed that is beyond the current models. When asked if NASA is trying to withhold information about the interstellar comet, Dr. Loeb admits that the data gap about 3I/ATLAS is concerning.
Dr. Loeb also said that he has reached out to US Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna on the matter. The lawmaker supposedly confirmed that she will get in touch with NASA to release more data on the comet.
According to Avi Loeb the interstellar object #3IATLAS exhibits anomalous brightening and a shift toward blue wavelengths after its perihelion passage implying temperatures or mechanisms beyond current models
The interview also highlights NASA’s unexplained withholding of… pic.twitter.com/3UA91bPzrO
— Surajit (@surajit_ghosh2) October 31, 2025
‘The principal investigator is at the University of Arizona is not a NASA employee and moreover, it’s time to share the data with the scientific community even if they don’t want to make a press release,’ said Dr. Loeb. ‘It has nothing to do with communicating to the media, it has to do with scientific practice, allowing us to plan the observations ahead according to what we already know.’
‘Yesterday was a special day as 3I/ATLAS came closest to the Sun,’ Dr. Loeb continued. ‘We cannot observe it from Earth because the Sun is between us and this object. However, there are several instruments that were able to observe that were looking at the Sun and some of them are satellites and as of this morning, we have a report that the object got much brighter than expected, much brighter than any previous comet from the solar system.’
On Thursday, Dr. Loeb also told ‘Elizabeth Vargas Reports’ that the current political landscape in the US should not get in the way of scientific discovery.
‘The politics of the day should not sabotage science,’ said the astrophysicist. ‘They have the data. They should share it with scientists.’
3I/ATLAS The Third Interstellar Comet to Be Discovered
There is another reason for the significance of 3I/ATLAS to the scientific community. 3I/ATLAS just so happens to be the third-ever interstellar comet that scientists have been able to study and observe.
‘This is only the third such interstellar comet that we’ve been able to study, and planetary scientists are super excited to learn about what comets in other solar systems are like,’ said astronomy and astrophysics professor Jason Wright to Newsweek in October.
3I/ATLAS was first discovered on 1 July by the NASA-funded ATLAS survey telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, and thus was named after the instrument. NASA has also assured that the interstellar comet does not pose a threat and will stay at a distance of 240 million kilometers from Earth. 3I/ATLAS is set to move away from the solar system by early December, but will be faintly visible again to telescopes in the Northern Hemisphere in the same month by 19 December.