For months, a mysterious visitor named 3I/ATLAS has been zipping through our solar system, sparking wild speculation and captivating everyone from scientists to internet users – even prompting Kim Kardashian to ask NASA for answers! Was it merely a comet from another star system, as many experts thought? Or, as some passionately believed (including a Harvard researcher!), could it be an alien spacecraft? NASA has finally delivered the long-awaited images, and the truth is out!
Prepare to put those alien theories to rest. NASA has confirmed that 3I/ATLAS is indeed a comet. “We want very much to find signs of life in the universe… but 3I/ATLAS is a comet,” announced senior NASA official Amit Kshatriya, definitively ending the cosmic debate.
The stunning proof comes from three of NASA’s Mars spacecraft, which managed to snap incredible photos as they passed a mere 18 million miles from the object. Images from the HiRISE camera show 3I/ATLAS as a fuzzy white ball – a cloud of dust and ice known as a “coma,” which the comet shed as it continued its journey. The MAVEN spacecraft also captured unique UV images, while even the Perseverance rover on Mars managed to get a distant shot!
As the third known object from outside our solar system to visit us, 3I/ATLAS is incredibly rare. But rest assured, it poses no threat to Earth, staying a safe 170 million miles away at its closest. While it may not be the alien spaceship some hoped for, scientists are thrilled to study these images, hoping to uncover more about its composition and unravel the secrets of objects originating from beyond our sun. Sometimes, the most fascinating answers are found in the wonders of natural science!
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-15312785/NASA-alien-spacecraft-3I-ATLAS-comet.html
