Scientists have recorded a change in the color of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS

The 3I/ATLAS interstellar object, which Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb considers a possible alien spacecraft, suddenly changed color and dramatically increased brightness as it approached Earth. This is reported in a new study published on the platform. ArXiv.org .

According to astronomers Qicheng Zhang and Carl Battams on October 28, the object shifted its radiation from the red part of the spectrum to the blue and became several times brighter as it approached the Sun.

Loeb noted in his article that such a change in color and intensity cannot be explained for an ordinary comet. The temperature of the object may exceed the temperature of the Sun.

The scientist added that the sudden increase in temperature may be due to the operation of the propulsion system, which makes 3I/ATLAS unique among known space bodies. According to him, the object exhibits non-gravitational acceleration and moves along an anomalous trajectory, passing near Jupiter, Venus and Mars. These factors, according to Loeb, suggest its artificial origin.

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Earlier, on October 27, the Moscow Planetarium reported that Comet 3I/ATLAS would approach the Sun on the night of October 29 and would be visible from Moscow in the morning sky after the 30th. At the same time, on September 6, scientists announced that the object has a dense ice core and a halo of gas and dust characteristic of comets, which refutes versions about its alien origin.

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