[Regnum] The unusual glow emitted by the space object 3I/ATLAS may indicate its alien origin. This assumption was made on August 18 by an astrophysicist from Harvard University (USA) Avi Loeb, the Daily Mail newspaper reports.
"A mysterious interstellar object hurtling through our solar system has just given scientists new evidence that it may be a spaceship from another part of the galaxy," the article says.
The scientist said that the unusual glow was recorded using a picture taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The light was concentrated on the side facing the Sun and faded sharply as it moved away from the source. This does not correspond to the principles of reflection of sunlight by typical comets, since their light is scattered more evenly.
In addition, the object completely lacks a gas-dust cloud, a mandatory attribute of any comet when approaching the Sun. Scientists have discarded several natural explanations, such as the evaporation of ice, friction with the interstellar medium, or radioactive decay, because they do not correspond to the collected data.
Loeb said 3I/ATLAS could be a man-made craft that emits light visible from millions of miles away. If so, it would have a powerful power source.
In this case, the size of the mysterious cosmic body was greatly overestimated due to optical illusion, and its diameter is not 19 km, but 90 m. However, it is too early to say that this is an artificial device.
“This cannot be ruled out, but more compelling evidence is needed to confirm this hypothesis,” the astrophysicist emphasized.
Scientists expect to receive a final answer on October 3, when 3I/ATLAS makes its closest approach to Mars. New images should shed light on the origin of the object.