WASHINGTON DC – NASA has spotted an interstellar object that seems to be building speed as it moves closer to Earth.
The comet, 3I/ATLAS was discovered earlier this year, having been drifting through space for millions of years, and has been passing through our solar system ever since.
The object reached its closest point to the sun on 30 October, but has since picked up speed to around 152,000mph, compared to 137,000mph when it was first discovered.
While NASA has said they are not concerned about the object – which is hurtling towards Earth but the closest it will get is 170 million miles away – there has been some controversy over the comet.
In a press release, NASA explained: “Comet 3I/ATLAS poses no threat to Earth and will remain far away. The closest it will approach our planet is about 1.8 astronomical units (about 170 million miles, or 270 million kilometers). 3I/ATLAS will reach its closest point to the Sun around Oct. 30, 2025, at a distance of about 1.4 au (130 million miles, or 210 million kilometers) — just inside the orbit of Mars.”
However, one physicist named Avi Loeb believes the object could be something else.
He said that images from the Hubble Space Telescope show ‘a glow ahead of the object’, but that there is ‘no prominent cometary tail behind it’ leading him to wonder if it could be something else.
Recently, Kim Kardashian also weighed in on the comet.
It all started when Kim tweeted: “Wait…. what’s the tea on 3I Atlas?!?!!!!!!!?????”
And it didn’t take long at all for NASA’s acting administrator Sean Duffy to reply to her ‘great question’.
In fact, in a Medium post, he even put together a 15-point plan on what we would all do if it was actually aliens up there instead.
Loeb explained that in the first initial period, as much data as possible must be gathered about the threat and that it must be shared with the public. He went on to explain that all nations must come up with a unified plan of action and that no nations should take advantage of each other.
“Great question! @NASA’s observations show that this is the third interstellar comet to pass through our solar system. No aliens. No threat to life here on Earth,” he began.
Duffy continued to explain: “3 = the third. I = interstellar, meaning from beyond our solar system. ATLAS = discovered by our Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) team.”
He finished off the tweet: “We love your excitement about our Artemis mission to the Moon. You’re officially invited to launch at Kennedy Space Center!”
Featured Image Credit: NASA
