3I/Atlas, the superstar comet under observation between science and alien theories

China's Tianwen-1 probe, orbiting Mars, NASA has captured new close-up images of the interstellar comet 3I/Atlas, while in the United States NASA remains paralyzed by an administrative shutdown. The space agency is now under pressure: many are calling for the release of the images taken by the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter between October 2 and 3.

The latest official request came from Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna , who in the last few hours contacted NASA directly to obtain clarity.

Meanwhile, popular curiosity is growing around this mysterious cosmic object , as big as Manhattan , which is attracting the attention of astronomers and enthusiasts around the world for its unusual characteristics .

Discovered only last July, 3I/Atlas immediately hit the headlines as the third interstellar object ever observed within the solar system.

Astronomers have classified it as interstellar because of the hyperbolic shape of its orbit , which does not follow a closed path around the Sun. By tracing the orbit of 3I/ATLAS into the past, it is indeed clear that the comet came from beyond the edge of the solar system .

Interest was sparked by the intervention of the famous Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb , who hypothesized—with his usual audacity—that the comet could be alien technology . His blog on Medium has garnered thousands of readers in just a few days, with daily anticipation of new “anomalies” linked to the comet, even though the scientific community remains decidedly skeptical .

Comet Atlas (NASA)

Is there the hand of aliens or is it a phenomenon that needs to be studied?

According to Loeb, who analyzed data collected by satellites such as SOHO, STEREO and GOES-19, the comet underwent a sudden increase in brightness , much more marked than “classical” comets: the brightness grows following an incredibly steep exponential law, much higher than the typical values ​​of normal comets.

Another striking feature is its color , which appears bluer than the Sun. Sunlight is actually white, slightly yellowish, and contains all the components of the visible spectrum. Saying that a comet is "bluer than the Sun" means that its light reflects or emits more blue radiation than sunlight. Normally, comets appear redder, due to dust scattering sunlight, but this blue hue could indicate the presence of ionized gases or an unusual chemical composition, making 3I/ATLAS a "rare" object in our solar system.

Loeb also points out another anomaly : during the perihelion when the comet reached its minimum distance from the Sun, movements were recorded that cannot be explained by gravity alone .

It would move as if it were propelled by a natural rocket , likely due to the outgassing of volatile materials. Loeb provocatively does not rule out the more extreme hypothesis of artificial propulsion , as if the object had an "internal engine," urging the scientific community not to discard data just because a definitive theoretical explanation does not yet exist.

Future observations, especially from Hubble and James Webb , will be crucial to understanding whether the comet is truly losing mass at an exceptional rate or whether the anomalies are simply poorly understood natural phenomena.

Former NASA interim head Sean Duffy intervened to try to cool the enthusiasm, declaring on social media X that the observations show no threat or signs of extraterrestrial life .

Influencer Kim Kardashian even appeared in the comments on the post, replying to Duffy by writing: "Wait... what's up with 3IAtlas?!?!!!!!???".

Even Elon Musk, on the podcast The Joe Rogan Experience , hypothesized that, if 3I/Atlas were indeed an alien spacecraft , its enormous size and nickel-based metallic composition would give it “the potential to destroy a continent… maybe worse.” These words have rekindled the imagination of conspiracy theorists online , who are already talking about mysterious radio signals coming from the object and even an imminent arrival of aliens .

Comet 3I/ATLAS poses no threat to Earth , as it will remain at a great distance from our planet. Its closest approach will be at about 1.8 astronomical units (about 270 million kilometers , or 170 million miles ).

Visible to ground-based telescopes until September 2025 , the comet will elude observation until December 2025 - because it is too close to the Sun. It will then reappear on the other side of the Sun, thus allowing a new phase of observations .

Comets are usually named after their discoverers. In this case, the recognition goes to the ATLAS team . ATLAS stands for Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System , a NASA-funded ground-based telescope project dedicated to detecting asteroids and potentially hazardous objects.

The letter “I” indicates that it is an interstellar object, and the number “3” indicates that it is the third known interstellar object .

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured an image of Comet 3I/ATLAS on July 21, 2025 , when the comet was about 277 million miles from Earth . Hubble revealed a solid, icy nucleus with a teardrop-shaped dust cap peeling off. Because the telescope was following the comet along a hyperbolic trajectory , background stars appear slightly streaked in the exposure.