3I/ATLAS Rich In Carbon Dioxide
Image: NASA – James Webb Space Telescope
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has made its first observations of interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, revealing the comet contains an unusually high level of carbon dioxide.
Initial observations of 3I/ATLAS by JWST suggest it has one of the highest ratios of carbon dioxide (CO2) to water (H2O) ever recorded in a comet.
These first observations by JWST took place in early August, with researchers using a near-infrared spectrograph to examine the comet’s composition based on the light it emits as it travels through the solar system. Comets have a telltale cloud of dust and gas known as a coma, which brightens as they get closer to the Sun.
The imaging shows that 3I/ATLAS’ coma is largely composed of carbon dioxide, allowing our first real insight into this strange cosmic wanderer. The findings have been published in a paper that is yet to be peer-reviewed.
“Our observations are compatible with an intrinsically CO2-rich nucleus, which may indicate that 3I/ATLAS contains ices exposed to higher levels of radiation than Solar System comets, or that it formed close to the CO2 ice line in its parent protoplanetary disk,” researchers wrote in the study.
NASA has been tracking 3I/ATLAS since July when it was first observed by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Chile. It is only the third interstellar object from outside our Solar System to be recorded, after Oumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019.
3I/ATLAS is hurtling towards us at phenomenal speeds exceeding 210,000 km/h, which will increase as it gets closer to our Sun. Its high velocity indicates 3I/ATLAS has been travelling for billions of years, one study suggesting it may be 3 billion years older than the 4.6 billion year-old Milky Way. It is also tracking on an unusually flat and straight trajectory unlike any other known object in the Solar System.
Early estimates on its size suggested 3I/ATLAS is 11 kilometres across, though subsequent data from the Hubble Space Telescope says it’s more likely 5.6 km across. In either case, 3I/ATLAS is the biggest interstellar object we’ve observed so far. Researchers are trying to observe 3I/ATLAS as much as they can before it is obscured by the Sun on its path past Mars.
A New Loeb Low
The strange characteristics of 3I/ATLAS have certainly captured the public imagination while arousing the suspicions of ufologists.
Harvard astrophysicist Professor Avi Loeb has dominated the discourse around 3I/ATLAS being extraterrestrial technology sent to probe Earth and other planets. Professor Loeb is well-known and heavily scrutinised within the scientific research community for his theories about the existence of aliens.
He recently published a controversial study stating 3I/ATLAS could be a “possibly hostile” piece of alien technology, echoing what he said about Oumuamua. The claim has been dismissed as “nonsense” and “insulting” by his peers, adding that the study ignores currently available evidence. But that still hasn’t deterred Loeb, who persists in publishing about it on his blog and in the press.
He maintains that the size and unusual shape of 3I/ATLAS, along with its non-gravitational acceleration and hyperbolic trajectory indicate signs of alien technology and intelligence. The fact 3I/ATLAS will be obscured from our view by the Sun for a period suggests a deliberate ploy or tactical manoeuvre for Loeb. Meanwhile, online commentators quipped that Loeb would see aliens in a cup of tea.
Alone In The Dark?
It is hoped credible researchers will discover more about 3I/ATLAS and the cosmic secrets it holds over the coming months as it travels through the Solar System.
Newly developed technology such as the James Webb Space Telescope, which was launched in 2021, has allowed us to explore the far reaches of outer space like never before, uncovering just how much we don’t know about what – or who – may be out there.
Loeb’s research and findings are seen as evidence for the dark forest hypothesis, which proposes that the Universe is a dark and dangerous place filled with ‘hunters’ – hostile alien civilisations that deliberately remain silent to avoid detection and possible destruction.
It posits a pessimistic view of space exploration that is used to explain the contradiction between the high probability of extraterrestrial life and the lack of evidence for it, known as the Fermi Paradox. If Loeb is correct and 3I/ATLAS is indeed a hunter stepping from the shadows, it could mean a fundamental shift in human knowledge and our understanding of the Universe.
While we should be open-minded, it is important to remain vigilant in the face of conjecture based on unverifiable or questionable information. Science is evidence-based, and at this stage there is no quantifiable evidence to support the premise of 3I/ATLAS being extraterrestrial technology.
