3I Atlas
posted 6 hours ago #
Forget ChatGPT Atlas, the hottest thing going right now is 3I/Atlas! It's an interstellar body that is an incredibly fascinating topic. This Space Race video does a fantastic job of explaining what it is, why it is interesting and some of the controversy around it. It's factual and well paced.
For a quick primer: 3I stands for "Third Interstellar" - since it is the third object we've detected with our Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (aka ATLAS). It, apparently, entered our Solar System this year at an angle that closely matches the angle of our planetary plane (neat!). It's moving quite fast and is actually entering it's perihelion today - that's when it gets the closest to the Sun during its trajectory. It also just so happens to be exactly opposite Earth when it does this, so we can't observe it directly. That fact is causing folks - especially Harvard scientist Avi Loeb - to wildly propose that the timing of this passing by the Sun may be "fine-tuned by extraterrestrial intelligence." He also proposes maybe this is great time to release a bunch of mini-probes. Or maybe use the Sun to alter it's speed.
I love an alien conspiracy theory. I could be quick to say all of this is outlandish talk - especially when NASA says 3I/Atlas is just a normal ole rock - but what do I know? I buy into the Dark Forest hypothesis so I'd prefer this not be an alien but probes gonna probe!
Regardless of the kerfuffle's around this object, it's undeniably interesting. Go do some poking around.
For a quick primer: 3I stands for "Third Interstellar" - since it is the third object we've detected with our Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (aka ATLAS). It, apparently, entered our Solar System this year at an angle that closely matches the angle of our planetary plane (neat!). It's moving quite fast and is actually entering it's perihelion today - that's when it gets the closest to the Sun during its trajectory. It also just so happens to be exactly opposite Earth when it does this, so we can't observe it directly. That fact is causing folks - especially Harvard scientist Avi Loeb - to wildly propose that the timing of this passing by the Sun may be "fine-tuned by extraterrestrial intelligence." He also proposes maybe this is great time to release a bunch of mini-probes. Or maybe use the Sun to alter it's speed.
I love an alien conspiracy theory. I could be quick to say all of this is outlandish talk - especially when NASA says 3I/Atlas is just a normal ole rock - but what do I know? I buy into the Dark Forest hypothesis so I'd prefer this not be an alien but probes gonna probe!
Regardless of the kerfuffle's around this object, it's undeniably interesting. Go do some poking around.