Explaining the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS
Dr. Ken Gayley, an astronomy professor at the University of Iowa, joins LiveNOW’s Austin Westfall to answer questions about the online conspiracies that suggest 3I/ATLAS might be an artificial object or even a probe from another civilization.
WASHINGTON – Scientists are closely monitoring 3I/ATLAS, an interstellar object, as it exhibits unusual behavior after passing its closest point to the sun.
What’s so weird about 3I/ATLAS?
What we know:
3I/ATLAS passed perihelion on Oct. 29, coming within 203 million kilometers of the sun, according to Harvard theoretical physicist Dr. Avi Loeb. It exhibited what Loeb says was “non-gravitational acceleration” and became bluer than the sun, which is atypical for comets.
The object appears to lack a cometary tail, which is surprising given its proximity to the sun. New images show a blob of light rather than the expected tail, raising questions about its composition and origin.
Hubble captured this image of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS on July 21, 2025, when the comet was 277 million miles from Earth. Image: NASA, ESA, David Jewitt (UCLA); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
What we don’t know:
The exact nature of 3I/ATLAS remains unclear. Some scientists are speculating that it may even be a technological object, but further observations are needed to draw conclusions.
What they’re saying:
“It came from the same direction as the ‘Wow’ signal that was discovered in 1977, a radio signal that is still enigmatic. We don’t know what the source is, but they were within nine degrees of each other. And the question is, were they related? Was this signal related to 3I/ATLAS in any way? So there are lots of anomalies,” Dr. Loeb said. “It should just make us curious.”
“We are screwed if it’s technological…But, you know, if we survive any such encounter, it should fill us with a sense of humility, with the fact that we do have siblings in our family of intelligent civilizations, and they’re more accomplished than we are. That should inspire us to do better.”
The other side:
Experts like Dr. Ken Gayley, an astronomy professor at the University of Iowa, emphasize that objects like 3I/ATLAS are likely natural, formed in different star systems under circumstances we don’t yet understand.
What they’re saying:
“We would always start off with the assumption that these are natural objects and we would study them in that way. And if there’s really very powerful evidence that they’re not, then we might be led toward another direction,” Dr. Gayley offered. “But for now, there’s still plenty of evidence that these are potentially just completely natural objects.”
Animation showing Comet 3I/ATLAS as it moves through our solar system. NASA/JPL
What’s next:
3I/ATLAS will be closest to Earth on Dec. 19. Scientists hope to gather more data to determine its true nature and potentially gain valuable insights into other star systems and the conditions under which they formed.
“That’s six days before Christmas,” Loeb added. “And my hope is that we will not receive an unwanted gift for Christmas, for the holidays. Because the last thing we want is for it to send a probe to planets like the earth.”
Why is it called 3I/ATLAS?
The backstory:
As NASA explains, comets are typically named for their discoverer. In this case, that’s the team behind the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) survey telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile. The letter “I” is for “interstellar,” meaning that this object came from outside our solar system. And it’s the third known interstellar object – after 1I/Oumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019 – hence the “3” in the name.
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The Source: The Source: Information in this report came from FOX 10 Phoenix’s interview with Dr. Avi Loeb and LiveNOW from FOX’s interview with Dr. Ken Gailey, supplemented with information from NASA.
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