As reported in Express (link), “Comet 3I/ATLAS presents a great opportunity for the IAWN community to perform an observing exercise due to its prolonged observability from Earth and high interest to the scientific community.”
Avi Loeb’s Photos Deepen the Mystery
Stunning new images of 31/ATLAS, captured on November 22 and 24 by Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, have fueled speculation that the interstellar object may not be a normal comet. The comet’s glowing green coma and 600,000-mile tail were captured with dramatically greater detail than NASA’s earlier, low-resolution imagery.
Loeb also confirmed that the sharpest publicly known image was taken by Paul Craggs of Canada on November 21.
He noted the comet exhibits at least 12 unexplained anomalies, including:
- A tail that points toward the sun instead of away
- Color shifts as it nears the Sun
- Multiple course changes that appear to defy gravity
Loeb continues speculation when he described the object as possibly “on a specific course through the solar system,” giving more fodder to online claims that 31/ATLAS could be an engineered craft.
