Why Scientists Are Afraid and What 3I⧸Atlas Really Is： Scientists Have Made an Claim About It!

The headlines about 3i Atlas just keep coming. And now, new images from Hubble and Webb have revealed something that no one would have expected. Initially, astronomers believed that the bright glow around the interstellar object was caused solely by sunlight reflecting off the dust cloud. But that appears to be incorrect. New observations show that the dust veil around 3i Atlas is extremely thin. So thin that it remains almost completely transparent. This means that the dust is simply not enough to explain the mysterious glow. But where does it come from then? Well, Harvard professor Avi Loeb has a spectacular answer to that question. He believes it's possible that this wondrous thing has its own light source and is ultimately much more than just a natural chunk of space debris. But could it really be that an alien spacecraft is currently traveling through our solar system? What leads Loeb to this outlandish assumption? And how do other experts view 3i Atlas? Be sure to stay tuned until the end and find out with us. Astronomy has not only gained an interstellar visitor, but also a heated debate. Discovered on July 1st, there is no longer any doubt that 3i Atlas has entered our home world from distant space. Its hyperbolic trajectory and exceptionally high speed clearly show that the object is not gravitationally bound to the sun. However, this makes the question of what exactly it is all the more controversial. In short, there are now two ways to approach this fundamental mystery. According to this, the majority of researchers agree that 3i Atlas is a normal comet, albeit one that originates from the depths of space and therefore has some special features. This is supported on the one hand by the typical coma, in other words, a shell of gas and dust that forms when frozen components evaporate due to the sun's heat. On the other hand, its estimated diameter of several kilometers is exactly in the range we are accustomed to seeing in icy chunks from the outer solar systems. The bottom line is that there is no reason to suspect that this object is anything other than an ancient comet passing by by chance. Unless, of course, your name is Avi Loeb. And indeed, this comes as no real surprise. After all, the Harvard professor had already speculated in the media about 3i Atlas's interstellar predecessor Oumuamua, suggesting that it could in fact be an artificial solar sail. In the case of 3i Atlas, Loeb again points to its astonishing trajectory. It is almost retrograde. In other words, it runs counter to the usual direction in which the planets orbit the sun. Loeb finds this circumstance surprising, to say the least, because the probability of a random interstellar object flying past the ecliptic so precisely is only about 1 in 500. However, it's even more unlikely that it will come so close to the planets Mars, Venus, and Jupiter. More precisely, the chances of this happening are about 1 in 20,000. Added to this is the fact that 3i Atlas reaches its closest point to the sun at precisely the moment when we cannot observe it from Earth. Which is why Loeb ultimately considers it possible that the object is traveling purposefully through our home system. In detail, he states that all these characteristics suggest that it is, quote, an intelligently designed object. Now, 3i Atlas has not only been targeted by Avi Loeb, but also by two flagship telescopes in space research. And the investigations by Hubble and Webb have brought to light not only the important new information, but also further unexpected details. Basically, Hubble has provided us with the sharpest images of the mysterious guest to date. These show the object on July 21st, 2025, when it was just under 450 million kilometers from Earth and halfway between Jupiter and Mars. Since then, we also know exactly how fast 3i Atlas is traveling. Measurements have shown that it is currently racing through the solar system at a speed of about 58 kilometers per second, or 209,000 kilometers per hour. Just so we're clear, this makes 3i Atlas the fastest object ever observed in our planetary system. In the future, however, the interstellar visitor will probably gain even more speed. Experts expect that at the time of its perihelion, the point closest to the sun, it will be accelerated to 220,000 kilometers per hour by the gravity of our host star. This extraordinary speed also supports the theory that 3i Atlas is several billion years older than the solar system and originates from the so-called thick disk of the Milky Way. On its long journey through interstellar space, the object is likely to have repeatedly gained momentum from close flybys of stars or gas nebulae, but its exact origin remains unknown. It's not possible to say due to its speed and the short observation period. The shape of the object is equally mysterious. Due to its dense shell of dust and gas, even images from the Hubble telescope do not reveal what the interstellar visitor really looks like. What the Hubble images do show, however, is that the dust cloud is extremely thin. In other words, the particles are so widely scattered that they can hardly scatter or block the light. Conversely, the bright glow around the object cannot come solely from the reflective dust particles. And Avi Loeb has his own explanation for this, but more on that in a moment. The coma did reveal one crucial aspect, however, the size of 3i Atlas. Thanks to the measurement of the dust shell, it was possible to narrow down the dimensions of the core hidden within it. Scientists estimate that the celestial body measures between 0.32 and 5.6 kilometers in diameter. 3i Atlas is likely to be at the lower end of the size estimates, but it still appears more impressive than its two predecessors, Oumuamua and 2i Borisov. What does not appear, however, is a comet-like tail. The dust carried along by the outgassing of ice and other volatile substances does not form a narrow, clearly defined tail as usual, but rather a broad, diffused plume. As mentioned above, the object was examined not only by Hubble, but also by the James Webb telescope. The high-resolution infrared spectra provide new information about the chemical composition of 3i Atlas and show that its coma is surprisingly extremely rich in carbon dioxide. At the same time, water, which normally dominates comets, is only present in very small quantities. The ratio of CO2 to H2O is therefore exceptionally high, and Webb's measurements also confirm that the bright light we see comes mainly from the surface of the nucleus and not from the dust in the coma. And this is where Avi Loeb's sensational conclusions come into play. Does 3i Atlas have its own light source? We have already shown you that Loeb is open to more alternative approaches, and regarding the light emitted by 3i Atlas, he explains that it is simply too strong to be just reflected sunlight. He says, if what we see is reflected sunlight, the object would have to have a diameter of more than 20 kilometers, but there is simply not enough rocky material in interstellar space for that. Loeb also refers to a glow at the front of the interstellar visitor, which other experts interpret as the evaporation of material on its sun-facing side. According to him, however, the observed brightness profile could be explained much better by internal processes. Quote, if 3i Atlas generates its own light, it could be much smaller than expected based on a model in which it reflects sunlight. The reflection model requires a diameter of up to 20 kilometers, which is untenable because the limited reservoir of rocky material in interstellar space could only produce such a huge object about once every 10,000 years or even less frequently. Okay, but what does all this mean? How could the suspected self-luminescence of 3i Atlas actually come about? Well, purely theoretically, it is possible that the comet has a nuclear energy source inside it, but that is very unlikely. And so it is that Loeb instead puts forward the following almost unbelievable alternative explanation. Quote, 3i Atlas could be a spacecraft powered by nuclear energy. The dust ejected from its front could be dirt that has accumulated on its surface during its interstellar journey. However, Loeb himself qualifies this by saying that such a scenario cannot be ruled out but requires better evidence to be plausible. Now, it is in the nature of things that the rest of the research community does not simply nod along silently to Loeb's headline-grabbing statements. On the contrary, astronomer Jason Wright of Penn State University vehemently disagrees with his counterpart and has published an article entitled, There is no reason to assume that 3i Atlas is luminous on its own. Specifically, Loeb is said to be using an incorrect representation of the data for his unconventional hypothesis. The same applies to Loeb's interpretation of the data on the brightness of the coma. But listen for yourself. Quote, The fact that the coma is optically thin does not mean that the nucleus dominates the light. Dust has a very high surface-to-mass ratio, so even a tiny amount of dust can reflect much more sunlight than a much more massive solid object. As an example, imagine how much light a pebble reflects. But if you crush that pebble into fine powder and scatter it as a large cloud of dust, that dust reflects far more light, even though you can still see through it. If you now place an identical pebble in the middle of that dust cloud, you would hardly notice it. In other words, the fact that the coma is optically thin and yet dominates the reflected light is neither unusual nor an anomaly. Wright urges everyone to keep this in mind when considering Loeb's claims. But what does the Harvard professor himself have to say about this? Well, he knows, of course, that extraordinary claims always require extraordinary evidence. He therefore suggested taking a closer look at 3i Atlas in early October when it passes close to Mars. More specifically, this will be done using the HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. According to his own statements, Loeb has already approached the HiRISE team with his proposal and received a positive response. We can therefore look forward to seeing what details the future investigation of 3i Atlas will bring to light. And as soon as there is any news, you will find out on our channel. But first, here's how you can make sure you never miss a new video from us again. Simply click on the thumbs up and subscribe to stay up to date from now on. See you soon!