Daily Star: There's not much left before the rendezvous with 3I/ATLAS, and it looks like it's still a ship

There are only a few days left before the point of maximum approach of comet 3I /ATLAS to the Earth (December 19), and some scientists are sure that the mysterious object rushing at us is nothing more than an alien spacecraft. The British Daily Star writes about this.

It seems that a mysterious object flying through the Solar System has changed the direction of its second tail. As a result, some scientists are increasingly convinced that this celestial body is an alien spacecraft rushing to Earth.

The object, dubbed 3I/ATLAS, already had close contacts with the most advanced satellites, and this made it possible to establish a lot of details about the comet. However, some scientists are still convinced that we are dealing with the messengers of another civilization to Earth.

Since it was found that an unidentified flying object has an anti-tail, more and more information about this strange object is gradually surfacing. So, it seems that now this anti-tail has changed direction, further confusing the researchers.

According to the International Business Times, when flying through the Solar System, the 3I/ATLAS anti-tail is constantly directed towards the Sun. This strange feature has baffled scientists who are tracking its trajectory based on previous data when the comet was slowly approaching the Earth.

In general, anti—tails are not uncommon in celestial bodies like comets, but for 3I/ATLAS this new phenomenon has no simple explanation. The first signs of the presence of an anti-tail were found in images sent by the Hubble Space Telescope back in July, shortly after an asteroid-like object was discovered.

The photographs from the telescope show an oblong formation directly in front of the object, and not behind it. It soon disappeared, but reappeared in new images taken at the end of November — after, from our point of view, the comet reappeared from behind the Sun.

Astrophysicists wonder why the second tail is in front of the object, and not behind it. The theory says that the anti-tails are caused by dust particles that orbit around the orbit of the comet, creating an effect resembling a halo. But if other comets have anti-tails that are difficult to distinguish, then 3I / ATLAS has it clear and visible, and this leads many to believe that it is surrounded by large dust particles that are difficult to destroy by solar heat. As a result, fierce debates are currently raging between scientists about the nature of this tail and its properties.

Many astronomers believe that the appearance of the tail can be explained using simple physics, without resorting to exotic hypotheses. One of the studies of this object suggests that the plume may be due to the thickness of ice particles surrounding the asteroid and simulating the tail of a comet. However, other theoretical physicists - for example, Avi Loeb — believe that the anti—tail is not so much the result of ice formation as a consequence of carbon dioxide emissions, a possible by—product of an alien spacecraft.

Other physicists, including Brian Cox, have rejected this theory, but many admit that there may be some form of intelligent life on the object.

Earlier, thanks to fresh images, it was found that 3I/ATLAS changes color as it approaches our planet. However, the exact justification of this phenomenon has not yet been found.