3I/ATLAS comet estimated size growing, new data shows

(NewsNation) — In just a matter of days, the interstellar comet known as 3I/ATLAS is expected to pass closest to the sun between the orbits of Mars and Earth.

New data from the International Gemini Observatory revealed the object has grown in its estimated size, with it now weighing more than 33 billion tons.

Avi Loeb, a Harvard University astrophysicist, told NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas that the object’s increase in size is because it’s losing mass.

“We see a cloud of gas around it that is a result of its warming up as it gets close to the sun, but it doesn’t change its path,” said Loeb.

“There is no push that is visible on the trajectory of the object, and that means that it’s very massive, at least a thousand times more massive than the previous one, which was a comet (Gennady) Borisov discovered in 2019,” Loeb added. 

3I/ATLAS’s alignment with planets around the sun ‘extremely rare’

Loeb says 3I/ATLAS’s alignment with planets around the sun, the plane of the planets, makes for an extremely rare occurrence, a “1 in 500” chance.

However, if the object does offer scientists the chance to observe it, it will allow for more information to be obtained.

“By the end of this week, it will come within 29 million kilometers from Mars,” says Loeb. “There are several orbiters there that were deposited there by NASA, by the European Space Agency, by the Chinese Space Agency, and we will get much more information about it.”

Loeb acknowledged scientists will hopefully get an image with a 30-kilometer pixel size, and examine the brightest pixel to infer how big the object is.

3I/ATLAS could have ‘alien tech’: Loeb

Loeb previously suggested 3I/ATLAS is some alien technology sent here from another solar system. 

He said his “alien tech” theory is supported by the size of 3I/ATLAS, implying the object might be more than just a comet.

3I/ATLAS is expected to pass Mars on Oct. 3.