It survived. Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS has flown past the Sun and emerged intact, but it is not done making news. As of 15 November 2025, it is putting on a show: it has grown a spectacular tail, emitted its first-ever detected radio signals, and even helped a spacecraft at Mars rehearse for planetary defence.
But this
activity is fuelling another, more popular, story: the 'alien probe'
speculation. While that narrative gains traction online, a powerful wave of new
scientific data strongly undercuts the idea. This includes a new update from
NASA, which clarifies the object's nature and threat level.
The new
evidence paints a picture of something perhaps even more profound: a truly
ancient, 'weird', and wonderfully natural visitor from another star system,
potentially older than our own Sun.
The 'Alien' Debate: What Is 3I/ATLAS Really?
The comet's sheer
toughness has fuelled online speculation. An article in The Economic
Times describes how its survival and unusual colour have kept debates
about its origin alive, while Zee News similarly focuses on
new images showing 3I/ATLAS 'survived the Sun against all odds', reigniting
social-media speculation about an 'engineered' object.
However, the latest
wave of hard data strongly contradicts this. Yesterday, NASA issued an update
by publishing a detailed 3I/ATLAS Facts and FAQs page that is
firm in its conclusion: 3I/ATLAS is 'unambiguously a comet', with an icy
nucleus surrounded by an active coma of gas and dust.
NASA stresses it poses
'no impact risk' and there is 'no scenario' where it hits Earth. Any slight
deviations from its path are 'small, expected perturbations' caused by normal
outgassing, not mysterious forces.
Even the most
'anomalous' talking points are now being explained by natural physics:
- The Radio Signal: The first radio signal from 3I/ATLAS, detected by
South Africa's MeerKAT telescope, is not a communication. As The
Times of India notes, this detection confirms it
is a natural comet. MeerKAT picked up radio emissions from hydroxyl (OH)
radicals at well-known frequencies (1665 and 1667 MHz). This is a classic,
expected signature produced when sunlight breaks apart water vapour
escaping from the comet's ice.
- The 'Weird' Acceleration: A fresh study covered by IFLScience tackles
the small 'non-gravitational acceleration' of 3I/ATLAS. Researchers showed
this is perfectly explained by ordinary outgassing of CO and CO₂ from its
surface. No exotic 'light-sail' or alien technology is required.
As ScienceAlert summarises,
every new data point is consistent with 'a really peculiar comet' rather than
anything engineered.
New Data: What We Are Learning from 3I/ATLAS
With the alien-probe
theory looking weaker, scientists are focused on the wealth of real data.
Visually, 3I/ATLAS is putting on a show. On 12 November, Space.com highlighted
a new Virtual Telescope Project image showing the comet's ion
tail growing dramatically longer and more structured, stretching roughly 0.7°
across the sky. Earth Sky has also shown it displaying multiple
jets fanning out from the nucleus.
This data is about to
get even better. Astrophysicist Avi Loeb writes that NASA is
expected to release HiRISE images of 3I/ATLAS 'within a few
days'. These were taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in early October and
should provide a unique side-on view of the anti-tail and jets at a sharp 30 km
per pixel resolution.
In another major
development, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced on 14 November that it
has improved predictions of the comet's position by a factor of ten. This was
cleverly achieved by using the Exo Mars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO)
at Mars to triangulate the comet's path with Earth-based observations as it
passed within 29 million km of the Red Planet
Viewing Guide and Future Plans for 3I/ATLAS
For experienced
observers, 3I/ATLAS is a rewarding target. According to live data from TheSkyLive,
it is currently in Virgo at magnitude 9.8. Guidance from BBC Sky at
Night and EarthSky suggests looking in the pre-dawn
hours with at least an 8-inch (20 cm) aperture telescope to spot the faint,
fuzzy coma.
It is important not to
confuse 3I/ATLAS with C/2025 K1 (ATLAS). That is a completely
different, solar-system comet that has recently been seen breaking apart.
3I/ATLAS is the interstellar one, and it is here to stay for a while.
The science is just
getting started. The JWST has more observations planned for
December, ESA's JUICE spacecraft will provide data in early
2026, and ground-based telescopes will track 3I/ATLAS into the spring. This is
a once-in-a-civilisation laboratory: a chunk of another planetary system,
venting its ancient ices for us to study before it fades back into the
interstellar dark.
With NASA now formally
debunking 'alien probe' speculation and confirming 3I/ATLAS is 'unambiguously a
comet' that poses 'no impact risk', the path is clear. The real, profound story
is not one of science fiction, but of incredible scientific opportunity. We are
witnessing, in real-time, the behaviour of an ancient visitor from another star
system, potentially older than our own.
As new data from
HiRISE, JWST, and ESA missions continues to arrive, the call to action for the
public is clear: Look past the online chatter and follow the actual science.
This is a rare, fleeting chance to study a piece of another world, and the real
discoveries are just getting started.
Courtesy: inkl.com
