NASA’s James Webb Telescope has revealed that there is something strange about the interstellar object travelling through space.
Astronomers have said the comet known as 31/Atlas is travelling at speeds of more than 130,000 mph and is on an unusual flat and straight trajectory, Live Science reported.
Observations suggests that the comet has one of the highest carbon dioxide (CO2) to water (H20) ratios that has been recorded by a comet.
If this is proven then 31/Atlas has “mysterious origins which is far beyond our solar system,” Live Science stated.
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,” the researchers wrote in the study.
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“No one knows where the comet came from,” David Jewitt, an astronomer at UCLA and science team leader for the Hubble observations, said in the statement.
“It’s like glimpsing a rifle bullet for a thousandth of a second. You can’t project that back with any accuracy to figure out where it started on its path.
The size is thought to be around 3.5 miles across and previous estimates said the comet is around 7 miles, whichever the size is, it is still the largest and fastest comet known to have travelled through space.
A scientist has estimated that the comet is around 3 billion years older than the solar system which is 4.6 billion years old.
Last week Harvard physicist Professor Dr Avi Loeb has sent alarm bells ringing as earlier this month he said the interstellar object travelling though the solar system could possibly by an “alien spaceship.”
Prof. Loeb who has been studying what is known as 31/Atlas from the Hubble Telescope, has suggested it is generating its own light, the physicist is saying he believes the alien spaceship is nuclear powered.
The object has been called 31/Atlas by astronomers which is 12 to 13 miles in diameter and is on a path that will bring the possible comet or “alien spaceship” close to earth.
The object was first found travelling through space in July by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope in Chile, this is only third time an object in space has been watched entering and travelling through our solar system, NASA confirms.
Prof. Loeb has said the object is not a massive piece of rock and he is claiming that it is in fact an “alien vessel” which has extraterrestrials.
Prof, Loeb said it is “quite surprising” that the interstellar object has an unexpected white glow in front, instead of trailing from the rear which is what is always observed, such as a shooting star.
He said that the light cannot be explained as it is not sunlight reflection and it does not have the standard gassing that comets have.
Prof. Loeb wrote, “Alternatively, 3I/ATLAS could be a spacecraft powered by nuclear energy, and the dust emitted from its frontal surface might be from dirt that accumulated on its surface during its interstellar travel.
“This cannot be ruled out, but requires better evidence to be viable.”
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