#interstellar-object

#interstellar-object

An Earth-based telescope has captured an interstellar object speeding through our Solar System, spewing a mysterious metal that defies natural expectations. The Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile detected an unusual nickel plume from the object, known as 3I/ATLAS, which differs sharply from natural comets that always emit nickel alongside iron, which was not detected. Harvard physicist Avi Loeb highlighted the anomaly, noting that this nickel signature is a hallmark of industrial production of nickel alloys.

"There were claims of a tail, but since 3I/ATLAS is accelerating and its current size is not much larger than the angular resolution of Earth-based telescopes, it is not easy to avoid fictitious elongation of the image as a result of the object's motion."