{"id":240636,"date":"2025-11-03T03:39:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T03:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/240636\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T03:39:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T03:39:10","slug":"is-it-aliens-why-thats-the-least-important-question-about-interstellar-objects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/240636\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it aliens? Why that\u2019s the least important question about interstellar objects"},"content":{"rendered":"

On October 29, Comet 3I\/ATLAS reached its closest point<\/a> to the Sun. <\/p>\n

This point, known as perihelion, was around 210 million kilometres from the Sun, or 1.4 times the distance between the Sun and Earth, and it was on the opposite side of the Sun to Earth. This means the Sun has been blocking the comet from our view (from Earth<\/a>). There are already reports<\/a> it\u2019s been detected again using ground-based telescopes.<\/p>\n

The comet is the third interstellar object (hence the \u201c3I\u201d) we\u2019ve detected flying through our Solar System. <\/p>\n

When it was first detected on July 1 2025<\/a> by the Asteroid Terrestrial Last Alert System<\/a> (or \u201cATLAS\u201d), one of the first questions people<\/a> asked was \u201cbut is it aliens?\u201d.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time the alien question has come up in the context of a new astronomical discovery. But although it might be fun, it can also detract from the real (and very cool) science, and fuel misinformation. <\/p>\n

A long history of speculation<\/p>\n

Similar alien speculation arose when the first two interstellar objects were discovered: 1I\/2017 U1 \u2018Oumuamua<\/a> and Comet 2I\/Borisov<\/a>. <\/p>\n

And it doesn\u2019t just happen for interstellar objects. <\/p>\n

In 2019, I wrote my first public article<\/a> about a discovery I made as a PhD student. I had found radio light coming from a binary star system, the first object found by the MeerKAT telescope to be changing brightness over time. Even though this had nothing to do with aliens, the editor asked me to include speculation about them. <\/p>\n

In 1967, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, then a PhD student, discovered a rapidly repeating flash of radio light<\/a>. <\/p>\n

As a joke, she labelled it LGM 1<\/a> for \u201cLittle Green Men\u201d, but the astronomers working on it did not really believe they had discovered aliens<\/a>. They were, however, concerned about the possibility that alien-related media coverage would sensationalise the discovery and hinder their scientific investigations.<\/p>\n

A 7 billion-year-old visitor<\/p>\n

This concern remains for astronomers today. <\/p>\n

Comet 3I\/ATLAS is possibly the oldest thing we\u2019ve ever seen in our Solar System. Our Solar System formed 4.6 billion years ago<\/a>, while recent research points to Comet 3I\/ATLAS possibly being more than 7 billion years old<\/a>. <\/p>\n

It has spent a lot of that time zipping through the universe just to spend a few months in our Solar System. When the comet reached perihelion, that\u2019s probably the closest it\u2019s been to a star in at least millions of years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Research has shown the comet has more carbon dioxide<\/a> in its outer layers than has been seen in most comets in our Solar System. It also has a higher ratio of nickel<\/a> to other elements than has been seen in local comets. <\/p>\n

These chemical signatures give us a unique insight<\/a> into the chemical composition of the cloud of gas that formed the solar system where the comet came from.<\/p>\n

This is one of the key reasons why we should only be asking about aliens when all other possibilities are exhausted. When we talk about aliens first, we might miss all this amazing information.<\/p>\n

As astronomer Carl Sagan said<\/a> (in his rewording of a principle by French mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace<\/a>), \u201cextraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence\u201d. It\u2019s true we can\u2019t completely explain every detail of the comet yet, but not knowing everything is not evidence of aliens.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Embrace the uncertainties<\/p>\n

Talking about aliens also leaves room for misinformation to spread. <\/p>\n

For example, there have been claims of things such as trajectory shifts and Comet 3I\/ATLAS \u201chiding\u201d behind the Sun. Despite no evidence to support this, I received many questions along these lines when I spoke about the comet online<\/a>. This demonstrates how easy it is for misinformation to be generated and spread when we\u2019re talking about \u201caliens\u201d. <\/p>\n

There are ways to see the comet while it\u2019s on the other side of the Sun. For example, the European Space Agency<\/a> plans to observe the comet using the Mars Express, ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter<\/a> and the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer<\/a>. <\/p>\n

And if you\u2019d like to see the trajectory of Comet 3I\/ATLAS and find out where it is right now, you can<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There might be something to be learned from poets here. Romantic poet John Keats<\/a> wrote about something he called \u201cnegative capability<\/a>\u201d. It\u2019s a strange name, but the concept is about being able to sit with \u201cuncertainties, mysteries and doubts\u201d and be content with not knowing.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot we don\u2019t know about Comet 3I\/ATLAS and about the universe. It wouldn\u2019t be much fun to be an astronomer if we knew everything already. But when there\u2019s something unknown, we humans like to fill that gap. <\/p>\n

For astronomy mysteries, the gap tends to be filled with aliens. However, not knowing all the answers is not proof of aliens. It just means that we have work to do.<\/p>\n