Astronomer Suspects Mysterious Object Is Up to No Good While It's Hidden Behind the Sun: "If You Want to Take a Vacation, Take It Before Then"

"And while scientists have gathered significant evidence that the unusual visitor from another star system is a comet, largely made up of carbon dioxide ice, Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb hasn't given up his suspicion that it's instead an enormous "mothership" that was sent to us by an intelligent extraterrestrial civilization. Loeb has repeatedly pointed out all of the object's "anomalies," from its enormous suspected size to its unusual trajectory that took it suspiciously close to Mars earlier this month."

"'As a result of this so-called Oberth effect, it is most energy-efficient for a spacecraft engine to burn its fuel when its orbital velocity is greatest,' Loeb explained, referring to a physics principle which determines that a rocket engine generates more energy when it's fired at a higher speed. The astronomer reiterated his hypothesis that the object may release smaller probes to get a better understanding of our neighborhood."

Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS will reach perihelion on October 29 after recently passing solar conjunction. Observational evidence primarily indicates a cometary nature composed largely of carbon dioxide ice. Alternative hypotheses posit an artificial 'mothership' from an extraterrestrial civilization based on anomalies including its large inferred size and an unusual trajectory that approached Mars. If artificial, the object could use the Sun's gravity at perihelion and the Oberth effect to alter its velocity and to momentarily hide behind the Sun, potentially deploying smaller probes to investigate the inner Solar System. Outcomes around perihelion remain uncertain.

Read at Futurism