You Wouldn’t Believe What 3I/ATLAS Did Near the Sun: Why Are Scientists Fear What It Really Is?

Threeey Atlas, the interstellar object recently passed very close to the sun and what it did during this time has completely stunned astronomers. Scientists have once again detected strange activity and most importantly three Atlas has finally shown signs of non-gravitational acceleration. But there's a problem. One of the new images comes from NASA's punch satellite constellation captured on 27th October 2025 when threeey atlas was near its closest point to the sun known as perihelion. Other observatories including stereo or solar terrestrial relations observatory and the solar and heliospheric observatory have also shared new images that left scientists stunned. According to the data, just before reaching perihelion, threeey atlas suddenly began brightening at an unexpected rate, its brightness increased roughly in proportion to the sun's distance raised to the power of -7.5. In simple terms, as the object got closer to the sun, it became far brighter than what scientists would normally expect based on its distance alone. Such an extreme brightening has never been observed in any comet within our solar system before. This rapid increase in brightness could mean one of two things. The comet might be releasing large amounts of gas and dust, showing unusually strong activity, or it could have a very unusual chemical composition that reacts intensely to solar heat. Some scientists pointed out that threeey atlas had shown this same strange behavior earlier when it was approaching Mars. Back then, it suddenly became brighter just as it neared the planet. Now, it's doing it again, showing a sharp and unexpected increase in brightness just before passing its closest point to the sun. Scientists say this repeating pattern is really unusual and puzzling. But wait, the most exciting discovery about three eye atlas is that scientists have now found clear signs it's not moving exactly as gravity predicts. In simple terms, besides the pull of the sun's gravity, something else seems to be giving it a tiny but measurable push. This effect is known as non-gravitational acceleration, and it has caught the attention of astronomers around the world. According to David de Farakia, a navigation engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, new data shows that when three eye atlas passed very close to the sun, it appeared to be accelerating slightly faster than expected. The extra push is extremely small, roughly between 3 * 10 the -14th and 2 * 10 the -10th astronomical units per day squared. Yet, it's still large enough to matter in precise orbital calculations. Scientists say the exact cause of this non-gravitational acceleration is still not fully understood. The most likely explanation is outgassing, a process where the sun's heat causes ices trapped inside a comet to vaporize and release gas. These escaping gases act like tiny thrusters, giving the object a small push in the opposite direction. However, researchers are still waiting for direct confirmation of what's really causing the effect. Once three eye atlas becomes visible again after passing behind the sun, scientists will be able to measure both the strength and direction of this acceleration more accurately. If it turns out to be stronger than expected or pointing in a direction that doesn't match the outgassing theory, they may have to consider new possibilities just as they did earlier with Umua Mua. Harvard professor Avi Loab also commented that if the outgassing is indeed that strong, it means threeey atlas is losing mass rapidly. When it becomes visible again and moves closer to Earth, astronomers can test whether the actual mass loss matches what would be expected from outgassing. If it doesn't, that could mean three Atlas is using a different mechanism to generate this mysterious push. Perhaps something more unusual, like a thin spacecraftike structure that only looks like a natural comet. But the real surprise came when scientists examine new images from space-based solar imagers. Since threeey atlas is currently hidden from Earth by the sun, it's being tracked through coronagraphs. It instruments that block the sun's glare to observe nearby objects. When researchers analyze the comet's light through special color filters, they noticed something remarkable. three eye atlas appeared bluer than the sun. Well, this doesn't mean the comet looks bright blue to the naked eye. Instead, it means that the light from three eye atlas contains more blue wavelengths and less red light than sunlight does. In other words, its color balance is shifted toward blue. The authors of the new paper said that the reason for three I atlas's rapid brightening which far exceeds the brightening rate of most orort cloud comets at similar distances from the sun remains unclear. In addition to this, Professor Avi Lo said the appearance of threeey atlas as bluer than the sun is very surprising. Dust is expected to reen the scattered sunlight, and the surface of the object is expected to be an order of magnitude colder than the 5,800° Kelvin at the photosphere of the sun, resulting in it having a redder color than the sun. But the bluer spectrum raises a big question. Could three eye atlas be using a power source hotter than the sun itself? Avi Loab has added this strange observation to his list of anomalies linked to this interstellar object. >> Yesterday was that this object came closest to the sun uh and it received a huge amount of heat from the sun >> and the latest report indicates that it became extremely bright, much more than expected for familiar comets. Before disappearing behind the sun, scientists had already noticed several strange behaviors around three Atlas. For a long time during its journey through the solar system, Threeey Atlas showed an anti-tail, a faint stream of dust that appeared to point toward the sun. But just before it reached perihelion, this anti-tail suddenly flipped and turned into a normal tail pointing away from the sun like most comets do. Scientists also observed that the sunlight scattering around the object behaved in a very unusual way. It showed strong negative polarization, a light effect that has never been seen in any comet before. And most surprisingly, the layers of gas molecules surrounding three eye atlas seem to form a kind of protective shell or envelope, which was completely unexpected. New data suggests that the inner region around the nucleus of this object is mostly dominated by nickel with very little or almost no iron. Surprisingly, another layer mixed with the coma appears to be rich in cyanide compounds. And finally, the outer gas envelope is dominated by carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. This means the material close to the surface is very different from what's farther away, something we've never clearly observed before. Such an uneven chemical pattern could hint that the object formed in a very different environment. The best image of this interstellar object was captured by the high-rise camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. However, NASA hasn't released those images to the public yet, reportedly because of the government funding shutdown. But some scientists believe that NASA might be deliberately keeping the best images of ThreeI Atlas hidden. >> What's NASA potentially hiding about ThreeI Atlas? >> Well, on October 2nd, 3i Atlas came closest to Mars within 30 million kilometers and the high-res camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took several images of it. These are the highest resolution images we have. And the that was a day after the government shutdown took over NASA and uh we haven't gotten the data. >> After its recent close flybys, three Atlas is now heading toward Jupiter. During this part of its journey, it will come closer to Earth than ever before, giving scientists a perfect opportunity to capture the best and most detailed images of the object. After passing Jupiter, three eye atlas will continue outward away from the sun, following a hyperbolic path that will carry it toward the outer edges of our solar system. It originally entered the solar system from the direction of the Sagittarius constellation. Interestingly, the same region of the sky from where the famous and mysterious wow signal was once detected. After it swings past Jupiter, the object will move through constellations such as Virgo and Leo as it continues its journey back into deep space. That's all for today. Don't forget to check out our new three IA Atlas interstellar object t-shirt. If you like it, buy one to support the channel. Have a great day and thanks for watching.