Astronomer Scott Sheppard discovered 2025 SC79, marked here in two images showing its motion relative to background stars. 

Credit: Photographs courtesy of Scott S. Sheppar

Discovered by Carnegie Science astronomer Scott S. Sheppard, 2025 SC79 completes its journey around the Sun every 128 days, making it the second-fastest asteroid known in our Solar System.

A Stealthy, High-Speed Space Object

2025 SC79 is unique for reasons other than its difficult-to-spot location and high-speed trips around the Sun. It also happens to be the second object astronomers have discovered that has an orbit inside of Venus.

In the images above, 2025 SC79 can be seen moving relative to background stars on the night of its discovery

(images courtesy of Scott Sheppard/Carnegie Science).

The unique asteroid also traverses the orbit of Mercury during its speeding Solar journeys, making its speed second only to a 2021 discovery—also made by Sheppard and his colleagues—which revealed asteroid 2021 PH27.

2021 PH27 also has one of the shortest orbital periods of any known space object, second only to planet Mercury. Due to the extreme proximity to the Sun of objects like it and the newly discovered 2025 SC79, they undergo the most extreme relativistic effects of any objects known to exist in our Solar System.

According to a statement accompanying the discovery, Carnegie Science’s Magellan telescope, as well as the National Science Foundation’s Gemini telescope, were used to confirm the detection of 2025 SC79.

Hidden Threats Near the Sun

Sheppard is uniquely positioned to make such discoveries, since his work focuses on objects like planetary moons, so-called “dwarf planets,” and asteroids. However, with the discovery of these lurking space objects hidden in the Sun’s glare, which astronomers sometimes call “twilight” asteroids, his work also plays a fundamental role in the detection of objects that are potentially at risk of impacting the Earth.

One of the most notable examples of a space object taking Earth off guard with its approach from the direction of the Sun was the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor event, which was famously documented by dash cameras in vehicles and other cameras while going unseen by astronomers. Of course, coming from the direction of the Sun makes it very difficult—if not impossible—for such objects to be detected beforehand while obscured by the powerful glare.

The event served as a wake-up call for astronomers and prompted planetary defense efforts like those now conducted by Sheppard to help reduce the likelihood that we will be taken off guard by the arrival of such objects in the future.

“The most dangerous asteroids are the most difficult to detect,” Sheppard recently said.

Twilight Asteroids

“Most asteroid research finds these objects in the dark of night, where they are easiest to spot,” he says, although “twilight” asteroids draw their nickname from being objects that can only be observed during twilight due to their proximity to the Sun.

“If these ‘twilight’ asteroids approach Earth, they could pose serious impact hazards,” he says.

In Sheppard’s work, which receives funding from NASA, the National Science Foundation’s Blanco 4-meter telescope and its specialized Dark Energy Camera is employed to search for any potentially deadly asteroids that may similarly be lurking in the Sun’s glare.

Beyond the detection of potential “planet killers” hiding near the Sun, the research also contributes significant information about the formation of our Solar System and its current makeup.

Future Observations and Possible Origins

Presently, 2025 SC79 is on its making its way behind the Sun, where, just like the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, it will remain invisible to astronomers for the next several weeks.

However, future observations will help astronomers like Sheppard reveal clues about 2025 SC79’s composition, as well as how the object can withstand the imposing heat produced by the Sun at such close distances.

Sheppard says that a large number of similar objects in our Solar System inhabit one of two primary asteroid belts, although changes that occasionally occur with them can sometimes send objects into much closer orbits, which makes them even more difficult to detect.

“Understanding how they arrived at these locations can help us protect our planet,” Sheppard says, “and also help us learn more about Solar System history.”

• Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.

{ https://thedebrief.org/category/space/ }

27-10-2025 om 22:45 geschreven door peter  

Imagine this, a glowing orb anywhere from the size of a golf ball to a basketball floating silently through the air, or even through walls, and lasting for up to a minute or more. 

Daily Mail's Shivali Best explores the bizarre weather phenomenon that has baffled scientists for 750 years.

Click above to watch in full. 

Ball lightning is one of the strangest and least understood weather phenomena on Earth. It is a glowing orb anywhere from the size of a golf ball to a basketball floating silently through the air, or even through walls, and lasting for up to a minute or more.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

27-10-2025 om 21:31 geschreven door peter  

Two spacecraft will pass right through comet 3I/ATLAS' tail

{ https://www.livescience.com/space }

25-10-2025 om 23:08 geschreven door peter  

{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

25-10-2025 om 22:51 geschreven door peter  

An interstellar comet is dramatically jetting off ice and dust into space, a new image shows.

The comet, called 3I/ATLAS, is sending out a jet of material towards the sun as our nearest star warms up some of its surface. The composite image shows the nucleus or icy, rocky central core of 3I/ATLAS as a large and black dot, along with a white glow — the comet's coma, or atmosphere. The jet is marked in purple and is blasting off towards the direction of the sun, which is typical behavior of comets in the solar system as well.

3I/ATLAS is only the third known interstellar object that has come through our solar system, and is rapidly hurtling towards the sun for its closest approach on Oct. 30. The comet will come within 1.8 astronomical units (sun-Earth distances) of our planet, making it visible in small telescopes before disappearing again into the dark.

Astronomers received notice of the jet Oct. 15 in the Astronomer's Telegram, an announcement service for the astronomy community with editor-in-chief Robert Rutledge, an associate professor at Montreal's McGill University.

Footage of the jet was captured on Aug. 2, and combines 159 exposures of 50 seconds each. It was taken with the Two-meter Twin Telescope at Teide Observatory in Tenerife, which is in the Canary Islands.

"This is the usual," Miquel Serra-Ricart, astrophysicist and chief science officer at the Light Bridges private research institution, which co-manages Teide, told our sister site LiveScience in an email. Serra-Ricart was the individual who posted the new images, which are not yet peer-reviewed; he pointed out that the comet’s tail is also pointing away from the sun, which is typical of these icy objects.

While comets do warm up when they get close to the sun, they don't warm up in all spots in the same fashion. The areas facing the sun heat up fastest, and if there is a weaker area on the surface of the comet, sublimated gases under the surface can burst through — causing these sun-facing jets.

A view of comet 3I/ATLAS taken by the Gemini South Telescope.

(Image credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Shadow the Scientist.

Image Processing: J. Miller & M. Rodriguez (

International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab)/T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab)/M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab).)

Serra-Ricart estimated the jet could be as far as 6,200 miles (10,000 km) from 3I/ATLAS' surface, which is more than twice the equivalent distance across the largest part of the United States. The jet is likely made up of carbon dioxide and dust particles—just like what was spotted by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope back in August.

These jets can begin to fan out as the nucleus of the comet rotates. Some of the material will stay in the coma, while the rest will fall into the comet's tail after pressure from the sun — known as the solar wind — forces it there. Solar system comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE, which was visible to the naked eye, showed just that kind of behavior back in 2020 in Hubble Space Telescope images.

RELATED VIDEOS

{ https://www.space.com/space-exploration }

25-10-2025 om 20:33 geschreven door peter  

Story by Andrew Powell

 

Halley's Comet photographed by the Soviet Probe "Vega" in 1986.

(Photo by Liaison)

A planetary defense group backed by NASA has started efforts to nail down the exact location of comet 3I/ATLAS following the observation of unnatural behavior from the object.

The comet, which is the size of Manhattan that possibly has alien technology, has been listed by the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) as a threat. The group is a global coalition of space experts and entities coordinated by NASA who come together for the detection and monitoring of asteroids and Near-Earth Objects that could possibly be hazardous, doing so to give assessments on potential Earth impacts.

•  (RELATED: ‘What The Heck Is Making Them All Jump?’: Wild Monkeys Fly Into Water At Florida State Park In Crazy Scene)

According to the New York Post, this is the first time ever that an interstellar object has been zoned in on by the group in a campaign, triggering one to sharpen skills and prepare the world for a possible threat from space.

3I/ATLAS, originally photographed July 21 by the Hubble Space Telescope, has shown characteristics that aren’t normal for a comet, per The Post.

NASA-backed researchers launch planetary defense probe to shield Earth from massive interstellar object https://t.co/mfOi4sZHQ1 pic.twitter.com/P0Dubc7nlW

— New York Post (@nypost) October 23, 2025

Some of the bizarre behavior includes having an anti-tail, a particle jet that’s directed at the sun rather than vice versa, which is typically how comets flow. 3I/ATLAS also discharged a column that contained four grams of nickel per second, with no iron being present, which is unusual for comets, per The Post.

According to Harvard University astrophysicist Dr. Avi Loeb who spoke with the New York Post, nickel tetracarbonyl has only been seen in manufacturing done by humans.

Previously, Loeb noted that the non-gravitational acceleration of the object and abnormal course that brings it strangely close to multiple planets — Mars, Jupiter and Venus — could be a sign of an alien probe doing a reconnaissance mission on Earth. Loeb made the claims in a paper, per The Post.

IAWN will be carrying out a “comet campaign from November 27, 2025, through January 27, 2026” to clarify ways to pinpoint the precise location of 3I/ATLAS, according to the New York Post.

• Related video: Colossal Cosmic Object Discovered in the Zone of Avoidance (Insane Curiosity)

{ https://dailycaller.com/ }

24-10-2025 om 23:43 geschreven door peter  

Interstellar visitor now hurtling toward NASA spacecraft's path in a once-in-a-lifetime encounter

• Scientists baffled as interstellar visitor appears to reverse thrust 

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

The ancient interstellar visitor in our Solar System is on a trajectory to encounter a NASA spacecraft in just a few weeks.

The object 3I/ATLAS is expected to pass near NASA's Europa Clipper and the European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft between October 25 and November 6. 

European researchers released a pre-print study discussing the rendezvous, saying the craft will be 'immersed within the ion tail of 3I/ATLAS, providing the opportunity to detect the signatures of an interstellar comet's ion tail.'

One of the most interesting possibilities is encountering the comet's ion tail, a stream of charged particles extending millions of miles from the coma.

Encounters with ion tails are unusual and valuable because they provide a direct sample of material from beyond our Solar System. Historically, such crossings have been difficult to detect, and many may have gone unnoticed, appearing only as small fluctuations in solar wind and magnetic field measurements. 

To predict these potential encounters, researchers use the Tailcatcher program, which calculates the closest approach, or 'impact parameter' of a spacecraft to a comet's ion tail based on solar wind flow.

For 3I/ATLAS, Tailcatcher predicts minimum distances of roughly five million miles. 

Researchers noted that even if Europa Clipper cannot measure all components, the mission could reveal the structure and composition of the ion tail, helping scientists understand the properties of interstellar bodies. 

A new study has revealed that to spacecraft will be able to take a deeper look at 3I/ATLAS, allowing for the first material samples to be collected

As discovery rates of such objects improve, future spacecraft, including ESA’s Comet Interceptor, may be able to encounter interstellar objects at even closer range, opening a new era in the study of visitors from other star systems. 

Co-author Samuel Gran, a postdoctoral researcher at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, told Space.com: 'We have virtually no data on the interior of interstellar comets and the star systems that formed them.

'Sampling the tail in this way is the closest we can currently get to a direct sample of such an object, and thus a different part of the galaxy.'

NASA's Europa is traveling to Jupiter's moon Europa, and the ESA's Hera is currently in the asteroid belt, traveling to the Didymos-Dimorphos.

Didymos-Dimorphos is a binary asteroid system in the asteroid belt, consisting of a larger primary asteroid, Didymos, which is about 2,500 feet in diameter, and a smaller moonlet, Dimorphos, which orbits Didymos at roughly 0.75 miles and measures about 525 feet (160 meters) across. 

The system gained attention when NASA’s DART mission deliberately impacted Dimorphos in September 2022 to test planetary defense by slightly altering its orbit. It serves as an important target for studying asteroid composition, orbital dynamics, and strategies for protecting Earth from potential asteroid impacts. 

The study explained that the Europa probe is equipped with instruments to study plasma and a magnetometer, while ESA’s Hera mission cannot measure ions or magnetic fields. 

If solar wind conditions are favorable, Europa Clipper will have a rare chance to study material from the tail of an interstellar object, the report added.

The object 3I/ATLAS is expected to pass near NASA's Europa Clipper and the European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft between October 25 and November 6

While the researchers and NASA have determined 3I/ATLAS is a comet, Harvard professor Avi Loeb believes all data should be considered before a conclusion is made.

He has stated there is a 30 to 40 percent chance the object 'does not have a fully natural origin,' noting the possibility it is a 'Trojan Horse,' where a technological object masquerades as a comet.

Read More

EXCLUSIVE

• The six-word plea scientists aim to send before mysterious interstellar object reaches Earth 

The claim is based on anomalies observed with the object, including a release of specific metals, its trajectory and how it has flipped its jet around twice.

The odd behavior has also led the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) to launch a campaign for further analysis of the object.

IAWN works alongside institutions across the world that detect, track, and study near-Earth objects (NEOs) to assess potential impact threats to Earth. 

3I/ATLAS is the first interstellar object ever added to the list, triggering a worldwide drill aimed at improving detection skills for space rocks and preparing Earth for a potential incoming threat.

On Tuesday, officials with IAWN admitted that the object was causing 'unique challenges' for predicting its trajectory and decided to add 3I/ATLAS to the Comet Astrometry Campaign.

The object has displayed several unusual features that defy the typical behavior of comets, including an 'anti-tail,' a jet of particles that points toward the Sun rather than away from it.

According to the release, scientists will be running a special training exercise from November 27, 2025, to January 27, 2026.

Telescopes and tracking systems around the world will focus on 3I/ATLAS to refine methods for pinpointing its exact location in the sky.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

24-10-2025 om 22:08 geschreven door peter  

For a long time, it was believed that dinosaurs were already in a state of decline before the asteroid impact. However, a new study published in Science dramatically changes this view. The new data suggests that dinosaurs were thriving right up until the fateful strike — it was the cosmic catastrophe, not internal problems, that led to their extinction.

A team of scientists led by Dr. Andrew Flynn from the University of New Mexico conducted a thorough analysis of rock formations in the San Juan Basin. The area known as the Naashoibito Member contains some of the youngest dinosaur fossils in the world. Using two independent methods — argon isotope analysis and studies of the magnetic polarity of the rocks — the researchers were able to establish a more precise age for these deposits.

The result was sensational: the last dinosaurs of North America lived here just a few hundred thousand years before the asteroid strike. In geological terms, this is an incredibly short period of time.

Prosperity, not decline

The key conclusion of the study was that dinosaurs not only survived but actively thrived. Fossil analysis showed that even in the final millions of years of their existence, they were extremely diverse and well-adapted.

“There is no single North American dinosaur fauna that would make them prone to extinction,” Flynn assured. Instead, there were separate communities that were well adapted to their regions. The north of the continent was home to the familiar triceratops and edmontosaurus, while the south, including New Mexico, was home to giant sauropods.

Professor Steve Brusatte from the University of Edinburgh enthusiastically talks about one of these giants: “Alamosaurus was nearly 30 meters long and weighed more than a Boeing 737. There is no evidence that these dinosaurs were undergoing anything unusual or were in a state of prolonged decline.”

Why did the myth of decline arise?

The researchers offer a logical explanation for this mistake. Dr. Flynn believes it may be related to the nature of the geological record. At the end of the Cretaceous period, there were fewer exposed rocks available for study than before. This creates an “insufficient evidence” effect: fewer rocks — fewer fossils — the illusion of decline. In reality, when looking at specific rich sites like those in New Mexico, the picture is quite different.

“As far as we can tell, it seems there is no reason they should have gone extinct, other than the asteroid impact,” Flynn concludes.

This work has received positive feedback from the scientific community. Professor Michael Benton from the University of Bristol, who was not involved in the study, called the new evidence “very interesting.” At the same time, he noted that the question of global dinosaur decline remains debatable, as the new study focuses on only one specific location.

However, one thing is now clear: at least in some regions of the planet, dinosaurs met their end at the peak of their evolution, unaware of the inevitable threat from space.

Earlier, we reported on how cockroaches survived after a meteorite strike.

• According to arstechnica.com

• Posted in News, Science

RELATED VIDEOS

{ https://universemagazine.com/en/news-en/science-en/ }

24-10-2025 om 11:58 geschreven door peter  

3i/ATLAS…. What is it REALLY?

By Marc D’Antonio, MUFON Chief Photo Analyst

WHAT IS 3i/ATLAS???

We have all heard and seen all these supposed images of the interstellar object known as 3i/ATLAS... In some images (all created by AI and borrowed from the Star Trek TV series) claims are being made that these are the "latest released images" and so forth...

Time to cut through all the false garbage that people create for clicks. This article is the DEFINITIVE statement of understanding that we have about 3i/ATLAS.

First, the most powerful telescope our civilization has ever made is in orbit 1 million miles away from Earth at a LaGrange point (like a parking spot in space) and has imaged 3i/ATLAS... Here are those images attached to this article below.

Notice it doesn’t look like some "alien spaceship".

Notice it doesn’t look like the Planet Killer from the Star Trek episode "The Doomsday Machine".

No... It STILL looks like a blob with NO detail AS EXPECTED for a small object....

So, what is it? Let’s explore, shall we?

What’s its size?

With the latest information, it now appears to be larger than we thought… Then again, it's

an interstellar comet coming in along the plane of our solar system. Current estimates are fuzzy due to the outgassing of materials blocking any visible nucleus. We know it could be larger than Oumuamua and comet Borisov, the only two previous interstellar objects. It can be as small as 0.2 miles in size, BUT as large as 28.5 miles in size....

So, you see, it’s NOT EASY to tell the size of an object that is surrounded by a cloud of outgassing gas and dust... once it gets a little closer, we can make a better estimate.

Current estimates put it closer to the upper limit on the hypothetical size. This larger-than-expected size could be due to a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that it originated from our galactic disk, an area known for its dusty and icy regions, which over billions of years could allow a comet to acquire more material and grow to a large size.

What’s its path?

One thing to understand is that the Solar System is inclined to our galactic plane by about 60-62 degrees… This means that the Sun is roughly centered on our galactic disk and orbits the galaxy with the planet plane at this 60-degree angle or greater. Thus, any object coming into our Solar System can come in from the galactic disk, considering the orientation of how the plane of the galaxy passes right through our Solar System. The illustration shows this arrangement.

What’s it made of?

Looking at its light spectra, we can identify different molecules and atoms in the "coma," which is the dust and gas that is hiding the nucleus itself from us. The object has a very high abundance of Carbon Dioxide (CO2), some water ice, water vapor, and Carbon Monoxide (CO). Finally, there is also some Carbonyl Sulfide (COS), a carbon atom with an oxygen and a sulfur atom, which looks similar to the Carbon Dioxide molecule, where one oxygen is replaced by a sulfur atom. Latest results show that Cyanogen is also present, which is a Carbon and Nitrogen atom bonded together with a second pair of the same atoms. So, it's C 2 N 2. This compound, along with carbon, produces a green glow which we now see. It is also sporting a small tail. NONE of this is unexpected for a comet, and ALL of it is unexpected for a SPACECRAFT. There is perhaps a nucleus made of similar components and chemistry, plus a rocky core like we see with many comets.

What’s its age?

It’s very, very old. This object entered the Solar System and came from the Milky Way's thick disk of stars, gas, and dust. This means it might be at least 7 BILLION years old.

The Sun is 4.6 billion years old for comparison. So, this object could be 1.5 times the age of our Solar System.

What’s its speed?

The speed is how we know that it is interstellar... if this object came from far beyond the cloud of icy cometary objects known as the Oort Cloud, then it would have a speed that is faster than any Oort Cloud object could achieve by falling into the Inner Solar System.

And this is what we see. It is moving at 137 thousand miles per hour (approx. 61 km/sec), much faster than an object falling in from the far-out Oort cloud could achieve.

What is its trajectory?

Because it is coming in along the galactic thick disk, it is coming it is somewhat aligned to the plane of our solar system. This means that it stands a chance of passing some of our planets. Right now, Mars (already passed), Venus, and Jupiter are the three planets that it will swing by as it passes through and then continues out of the solar system and back into interstellar space. Its fast speed means that it is not going to be gravitationally bound to the Sun. Planets move in roughly circular orbits around the sun and there are other objects that move in elliptical orbits around the sun. This object is on a trajectory that will take it in and out of our solar system and it is called a "hyperbolic" trajectory.

Fig 2: Trajectory of 3i/ATLAS [bottom left]

What will be its closest approach to the planets?

• Mars

Mars saw this object at its closest point on October 3, 2025, so just a few days before this writing. In fact, Mars is the FIRST planet in our Solar System to see this subject in a “close approach”.

That distance was actually 18 million miles.

• Venus

Venus will see this object at its closest point to the planet on November 3, 2025. When it passes Venus, it will be 60 million miles from the planet.

• Earth

The closest this object will ever get will be about 170 million miles or just shy of the distance to Mars. 3i/ATLAS will only approach to about 130 million miles of the sun which is 1.4 astronomical units. This closest approach will be on December 19, 2025.

• Jupiter

In its final approach, 3i/ATLAS will pass its closest to the Jovian giant on March 16, 2026.

No planet, including Earth, will be seeing this object “close” so do not believe the internet garbage intended to get clicks.

So, there you have it! The truth about 3i/ATLAS. No baloney, no sensationalism, and most importantly no fake pictures to confuse and try to take control of a narrative for clicks. Enjoy the ACTUAL images of the interstellar visitor....

Below are images of 3i/ATLAS. The one with the small red box is one we took with our

SkyTour LiveStream Benson Arizona telescope system … The other is the James Webb image.

To see more about Astronomy why not join our SkyTour LiveStream channel on YouTube and more social media locations! NO cost and we give you the photos for free!! Oh, and you might actually learn to enjoy the gorgeous night sky as we stream it Live in Real Time.

Find us here: 

• www.youtube.com/@STLS 

and at 

• www.skytourlive.org

RELATED VIDEOS

{ https://mufon.com/ }

23-10-2025 om 21:33 geschreven door peter  

Scientists discover a 'super–Earth' less than 20 light–years away – and it could have the perfect conditions for aliens

• READ MORE: Scientists discover a giant gas planet in 'Earth's neighbourhood'

By WILIAM HUNTER, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY REPORTER

Scientists have discovered a 'super–Earth' planet less than 20 light–years away, and it could have the right conditions for alien life.

The exoplanet, dubbed GJ 251 c, is at least four times larger than our own planet and is likely to be a rocky world.

However, what makes it truly special is that it sits within its star's Goldilocks Zone – the region where liquid water can exist on the surface.

According to an international team of researchers, this makes the nearby planet one of the best candidates to host alien lifeforms.

To find the alien world, scientists combed through over 20 years of data to find tiny 'wobbles' in distant stars created by the gravity of orbiting planets. 

While these wobbles don't tell us much about conditions on the planet's surface, they can reveal whether the planet is in the right location to support life. 

Scientists don't yet know whether GJ 251 c has an atmosphere, but new telescopes could reveal this within a decade.

Co–author Professor Suvrath Mahedevan, of Penn State University, told Daily Mail: 'This discovery represents one of the best candidates in the search for atmospheric signature of life elsewhere in the next five to 10 years.'

Scientists have discovered a 'super–Earth' (artist's impression) located less than 20 light–years from Earth, that could have the perfect conditions to support alien life  

Exoplanets – planets orbiting stars other than the sun – are so small, dim, and far away that astronomers aren't able to see them through normal means.

Instead, scientists find them by looking for the signs that something is disturbing the orbit of their host star. 

Professor Mahadevan explains: 'We are often taught in school that planets orbit their host stars, but in reality, planets and stars orbit the common centre of mass of the system.

'So the gravitational tug of the planet is also making the star go around this centre of mass, but this wobble is tiny – only about nine centimetres over a year for the Earth around the Sun.'

Since GJ 251 c is so much bigger than Earth and its star so much smaller, this wobble is large enough for modern telescopes to detect.

To find the exoplanet, Professor Mahadevan and his co–authors used a device called the Habitable–Zone Planet Finder (HPF), which is essentially a complex prism that breaks apart the signals from starlight.

Thanks to two decades of observations, scientists already knew that there was another planet, known as GJ 251 b, orbiting this star every 14 days.

But when they looked more closely using the HPF, they found that there was a stronger signal repeating every 54 days.

Scientists say that GJ 251 c (yellow line) likely orbits within its star's 'Goldilocks Zone', the region where liquid water can exist on the surface 

Scientists found the planet using a device called the Habitable–Zone Planet Finder (pictured), which is essentially a complex prism that breaks apart the signals from starlight. This picked up the subtle 'wobble' created by the gravity of the orbiting planet

This suggested that there was a second planet in orbit - one that was significantly larger than its neighbour.

It can be extremely difficult to separate the faint signal of a distant planet from the natural activity of a star, but the researchers are confident their data proves GJ 251 c really exists.

Even more excitingly, their study, published in The Astronomical Journal, suggests that this planet is 'one of the best candidates' for alien life.

Professor Mahadevan says: 'GJ 251 c is at the right distance from its host star that liquid water could exist on its surface, given the right atmospheric conditions. This makes it a really interesting world to characterise further.

'What makes this target even more attractive is that it is less than 20 light–years away, making these characterisation efforts possible.'

Unfortunately, even though the planet is orbiting one of the 100 closest stars to the sun, Professor Mahadevan says it is too far for humans to visit with our current capabilities.

However, improved telescope technology here on Earth could allow us to answer the big questions about GJ 251 c without needing to climb into a rocket.

The researchers are already planning for when the next generation of 30–metre ground–based telescopes comes online.

Scientists are preparing for when the next generation of telescopes will be able to image the exoplanet. These simulations show what future telescopes should expect to find in different scenarios, including a 'Modern Earth Analogue' (far left) in which life exists 

These telescopes will allow scientists to directly image rocky worlds in the habitable zones of nearby stars and to take measurements of their atmosphere.

Read More

•  Scientists are BAFFLED after discovering a giant planet orbiting a tiny star 

The researchers have even created simulations of what GJ 251 c's atmosphere might look like under various conditions.

That raises the tantalising possibility of detecting an alien 'biosignature' in the atmosphere of an exoplanet within the next five to 10 years.

Co–author Dr Corey Beard, an exoplanet scientist from UC Irvine, says: 'We are at the cutting edge of technology and analysis methods with this system.

'We need the next generation of telescopes to directly image this candidate, but what we also need is community investment.'

RELATED VIDEOS

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

23-10-2025 om 20:55 geschreven door peter  

Astronomers discover skyscraper-size asteroid hidden in sun's glare — and it's moving at a near-record pace

where they are easiest to spot. But asteroids that lurk near the Sun can only be observed during twilight — when the Sun is just about to rise or set. If these 'twilight' asteroids approach Earth, they could pose serious impact hazards."

Asteroids like 2025 SC79 are definitely worth keeping an eye on. To put its 2,300-foot diameter in context, the so-called "city-killer" asteroid 2024 YR4 discovered earlier this year is only around 180 feet (55 meters) wide, and that has the potential to release 500 times more energy than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima if it were to hit Earth (don't worry, it almost certainly won't).

Sheppard discovered 2025 SC79 using the Dark Energy Camera on the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Blanco 4-meter telescope. The asteroid's existence was then confirmed with observations from the NSF's Gemini telescope and Carnegie Science's Magellan telescopes, according to the statement.

This is the second super speedy asteroid spotted by Sheppard and his colleagues in recent years, having also discovered the fastest known asteroid in 2021. That object, named 2021 PH27, orbits the sun in 113 days, making it just 15 days quicker than 2025 SC79. The only object in the solar system with a faster orbital period is the planet Mercury, which completes an orbit of the sun in 88 days.

2025 SC79's orbit has now taken it behind the sun, so it won't be visible for several months. Researchers will attempt further observations in the future to learn more about the object, which is ultimately another piece of the galactic puzzle that helps astronomers understand how our solar system and its potential asteroid-shaped threats evolved.

"Many of the Solar System's asteroids inhabit one of two belts of space rocks, but perturbations can send objects careening into closer orbits where they can be more challenging to spot," Sheppard said. "Understanding how they arrived at these locations can help us protect our planet and also help us learn more about Solar System history."

RELATED VIDEOS

{ https://www.livescience.com/space }

23-10-2025 om 20:27 geschreven door peter  

Scientists baffled as interstellar visitor appears to reverse thrust before vanishing behind the sun

• READ MORE: NASA quietly deploys planetary defense tools after interstellar visitor shows odd light behavior

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

Astronomers tracking the mysterious interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS have revealed that the object has performed a dramatic tail reversal, now pointing away from the sun.

The change comes just months after Hubble Space Telescope images captured an unusual 'anti-tail,' a jet of particles streaming toward the sun instead of away from it.

New high-resolution observations from the Nordic Optical Telescope in the Canary Islands confirm that the anti-tail seen in July and August 2025 vanished and a new one formed in the opposite direction by September.

The shift occurred because the comet's dust and ice particles react differently to sunlight. 

Early on, large, slow-moving dust grains scattered light sunward, creating the anti-tail. But as 3I/ATLAS moved closer to the Sun, rising temperatures ejected more ice fragments and longer-lived dust particles, producing the tail that now points away.

Ground-based observations will be impossible through October as the object passes behind the Sun, hidden from Earth's view.

Researchers at the University of California and the University of Oslo found that 3I/ATLAS is shedding material at a rate proportional to the solar radiation striking its surface.

Meanwhile, NASA's space telescopes previously detected the comet losing about 330 pounds of material per second, made up of 87 percent carbon dioxide and nine percent carbon monoxide.

New high-resolution observations from the Nordic Optical Telescope in the Canary Islands confirm that the anti-tail seen in July and August 2025 transformed into a classic tail by September

Harvard professor Avi Loeb and his colleague Eric Keto have developed a model that offers a possible natural explanation for the comet's strange behavior.

Their findings suggest that as 3I/ATLAS moves closer to the Sun, different types of ice on its surface sublimate, turning directly from solid to gas.

Farther from the sun, about 279 million to 372 million miles away, CO2 ice drives the unusual sunward jets. But as the comet gets nearer, water ice begins to dominate, changing how material is released and causing the tail to flip into the classic shape now observed.

Loeb shared the study in a Wednesday blog post, writing: 'The total amount of mass lost from 3I/ATLAS during July through October 2025 amounts to about two million tons. 

'This is less than 0.00005 of the comet's total mass, which is estimated at over 33 billion tons based on its stable trajectory.'

The gas cloud surrounding 3I/ATLAS could be produced by stripping away only a 1.6-inch-thick surface layer from a 3.1-mile-wide object, a ratio similar to the length of your palm compared to the length of Manhattan Island.

'Needless to say, we cannot infer the true nature of 3I/ATLAS from the skin layer it has shed so far,' Loeb added. 

'My colleague, Adam Hibberd, noted that if the object were an alien spacecraft slowing down, and the anti-tail represented braking thrust, this shift from anti-tail to tail would be entirely expected near perihelion.'

Unlike the first interstellar object, 1I/`Oumuamua, which showed no signs of gas or dust, and the second, 2I/Borisov, which behaved like a typical comet, 3I/ATLAS (pictured) exhibits unique features, including the anti-tail, extreme color changes and a massive coma

However, NASA and most scientists maintain that 3I/ATLAS is a natural comet, though one that originated outside our solar system.

Unlike the first interstellar visitor ʻOumuamua, which showed no signs of gas or dust, and the second, 2I/Borisov, which behaved like a normal comet, 3I/ATLAS displays unique features, including its anti-tail, extreme color changes, and a massive surrounding coma.

Read More

• Mysterious interstellar object is morphing in unexplained ways as it moves closer to Earth 

'As the surface of 3I/ATLAS is exposed to at least 33 gigawatts of solar radiation at perihelion, observations during its closest approach to Earth on December 19, 2025, will offer the most important clues about its nature,' Loeb said. 'If it continues to show all the features of a natural comet, that will confirm its origin.'

The Harvard professor issued a chilling warning as the object was set to move behind the sun on Tuesday.

The object, dubbed 3I/ATLAS, will be exactly on the opposite side of the sun relative to Earth, constituting a so-called `solar conjunction,' tomorrow, which Avi Loeb said would be 'an opportune time for technological action.'

Loeb explained that in space travel, the best time to speed up or slow down a spacecraft is when it's closest to a large object, since firing the engine at that point, known as the Oberth effect, gives the biggest change in speed.

'If 3I/ATLAS is a massive mothership, it will likely continue along its original gravitational path and ultimately exit the Solar system,' the professor shared in a Sunday blog post.

'In that case, the Oberth maneuver might apply to the mini-probes it releases at perihelion towards Solar system planets.'

3I/ATLAS will reach its best window for such Oberth maneuvers just eight days after it slips behind the sun, which will put it the closest to the sun at about 126 million miles away, he added.

While Loeb has floated the idea that 3I/ATLAS could be of extraterrestrial origin, NASA has long maintained that the object is simply a comet from a distant galaxy.

However, that conclusion has not stopped Loeb from calling for more data before the case is closed.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

23-10-2025 om 17:25 geschreven door peter  

NASA quietly deploys planetary defense tools after interstellar visitor shows odd light behavior

• MORE: Scientists baffled as interstellar visitor makes mysterious maneuver toward the sun

By CHRIS MELORE, US ASSISTANT SCIENCE EDITOR

NASA has quietly made a major move to defend the planet after the mysterious interstellar object displayed more strange and unexplainable behavior.

The supposed comet, dubbed 3I/ATLAS, has just been added to the list of threats tracked by a United Nations-endorsed group focused on planetary defense against near-Earth objects.

The International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) works alongside institutions across the world that detect, track, and study near-Earth objects (NEOs) to assess potential impact threats to Earth.

3I/ATLAS is the first interstellar object ever added to the list, triggering a worldwide drill aimed at improving detection skills for space rocks and preparing Earth for a potential incoming threat.

On Tuesday, officials with IAWN admitted that the object was causing 'unique challenges' for predicting its trajectory and decided to add 3I/ATLAS to the Comet Astrometry Campaign. 

The object has displayed several unusual features that defy the typical behavior of comets, including an 'anti-tail,' a jet of particles that points toward the Sun rather than away from it. 

According to the release, scientists will be running a special training exercise from November 27, 2025, to January 27, 2026. 

Telescopes and tracking systems around the world will focus on 3I/ATLAS to refine methods for pinpointing its exact location in the sky. 

The supposed comet, 3I/ATLAS, has become the first interstellar object added to the list of threats tracked by the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN)

The Two-Meter Twin Telescope in the Canary Islands captured an image showing a faint jet of particles from 3I'ATLAS pointing toward the sun, something comets don't normally do

'They're calling it 'a test of improved astrometry methods.' In other words, the object isn't behaving like it should,' one person wrote on X.

'When every telescope from Mauna Kea to Chile is being synced on one object, that's not a drill,' another X user posted.   

The Daily Mail reached out to NASA on Wednesday, but the agency maintained that the entire space program is 'currently closed' due to the ongoing government shutdown and did not comment further.

It is part of IAWN, along with the likes of the European Space Agency, which are all helping to organize this as a team effort to keep Earth safe from nearby asteroids and comets.

NASA isn't launching rockets to defend the planet from 3I/ATLAS, with the announcement treating this major event more like a tip-sharing exercise for stargazers everywhere to take better pictures of the supposed comet.

While scientists claimed they do not plan to begin the worldwide watch party until late November, 3I/ATLAS is just days away from making its closest approach to the sun, slipping out of view. 

Harvard scientist Avi Loeb has theorized that this shocking 'maneuver' is a telltale sign of a spacecraft using the gravity of a large star to change its speed and course. 

Before its recent strange behavior near the sun, 3I/ATLAS was scheduled to make its closest pass by Earth in December, but skeptics claim that activating the planetary warning system is proof that government officials fear this is no harmless comet.

NASA's James Webb Telescope spotted the interstellar visitor in August, which has since been discovered to be composed of strange materials including nickel

READ MORE

• Mysterious interstellar object is morphing in unexplained ways as it moves closer to Earth

Loeb explained that in space travel, the best time to speed up or slow down a spacecraft is when it's closest to a large object, since firing the engine at that point, known as the Oberth effect, gives the biggest change in speed.

3I/ATLAS will reach its best window for an Oberth maneuver in one week when it comes within 126 million miles of our sun.

Whether it's a comet or something sent by an intelligence elsewhere in the galaxy, astronomers have concluded that it could be gigantic, with a diameter of more than 28 miles.

'If 3I/ATLAS is a massive mothership, it will likely continue along its original gravitational path and ultimately exit the Solar system,' Loeb shared in a Sunday blog post.

The professor has previously suggested that 3I/ATLAS could be a nuclear-powered craft after the Hubble Space Telescope revealed a picture that appeared to show the object generating its own light this summer.

During its closest pass by Mars on October 3, space probes sent back images which seemed to suggest that 3I/ATLAS was a giant cylindrical object coated in nickel, causing it to glow green.

This has fueled even more speculation that the comet is an extraterrestrial probe, as human spacecraft use nickel in the same way to protect them from super-hot rocket exhaust.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

23-10-2025 om 17:13 geschreven door peter  

The object discovered by miners in Western Australia on Saturday is of extraterrestrial origin. Experts identified it as a fragment of a Chinese Jielong-3 rocket stage. Its fall once again highlights the importance of solving the problem of space debris. 

Mysterious burning object

On October 18, workers at a mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia discovered a mysterious burning object lying on the ground. At first, it was assumed that it had fallen from space, so specialists from the Australian Space Agency arrived at the site. After inspection, they confirmed that the object was indeed connected to Earth’s orbit, but its origin turned out to be terrestrial.

To be more precise, the object turned out to be a fragment of a stage of the Chinese Jielong-3 rocket. Most likely the one that launched 12 communications satellites into orbit in September this year. More precisely, the space agency has determined with certainty that it is a fuel tank, while the rest are details that still need to be confirmed.

But if it is indeed a fragment of a Chinese rocket, then according to the international agreement on space, they have to be fully responsible for the consequences of its fall. But the debris should be returned to them.

Space debris

This time, the fuel tank crash in Australia did not have any consequences. But overall, this is a huge problem. The space around Earth is becoming increasingly crowded. There are more than 10,000 active satellites and possibly up to 40,000 pieces of space debris larger than 10 cm. By the end of this decade, approximately 70,000 satellites could be in low Earth orbit, at an altitude of less than 2,000 km.

And of all the space debris, fuel tanks and rocket stages are the most problematic. If satellites are initially designed to burn up completely in the atmosphere, then the tanks have to be made of a more heat-resistant material that can easily survive re-entry into the atmosphere, allowing them to reach the surface.

A report presented at the International Astronautical Congress in Sydney earlier this month lists the 50 most dangerous pieces of space debris in low Earth orbit, 88% of which are rocket bodies. 

Usually, to avoid problems with spent stages, enough fuel is left in them to ensure their descent into an uninhabited area over the Pacific Ocean. But the Chinese often fail to do so, resulting in their rocket stages falling in random locations.

• According to phys.org

• Posted in News, Tech

RELATED VIDEOS

{ https://universemagazine.com/en/articles-en/ }

23-10-2025 om 16:06 geschreven door peter  

Concept art of NASA's Europa Clipper alongside the comet 3I/ATLAS

(Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Shadow the Scientist

The idea was advanced by a pair of researchers in a new paper, which argues that the trajectory of NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Hera spacecraft could allow them to pass directly through the trail of ions left in 3I/ATLAS’s wake.

Doing so might offer astronomers a rare opportunity to collect samples of material from other worlds, which the odd interstellar comet has ejected during its unprecedented visit.

Mission Into an Interstellar Object’s Odd “Ion Tail”

Between October 30 and November 6, 2025, the trajectories of the Europa Clipper and Hera space missions may briefly align with the ion trail left by 3I/ATLAS, allowing their instruments to collect information through detections of charged particles carried outward from the object by the solar wind.

“During the period 30 October – 6 November 2025, it is predicted that Europa Clipper will potentially be immersed within the ion tail of 3I/ATLAS, providing the opportunity to detect the signatures of an interstellar comet’s ion tail, write authors Samuel Grant and Geraint Jones in their paper, which appeared on the preprint arXiv.org server on October 15, 2025.

“Characteristic changes to the solar wind are also expected to be observed,” the authors say, which will likely include what they characterize as “a magnetic draping structure” potentially emanating from the comet.

Even prior to Europa Clipper’s potential passage through the mysterious ion tail of 3I/ATLAS, Grant and Jones believe that the ESA’s Hera spacecraft “will possibly be immersed within the ion tail of 3I/ATLAS during the period 25 October – 1 November 2025.”

Neither spacecraft will be endangered during their potential transit of the interstellar comet’s tail of charged particles, although the implications of doing so could end up being profound, in that they may offer the first opportunity to make indirect observations of material samples from another star system.

A Fortuitous Cosmic Alignment

Grant and Jones are uniquely placed to make such predictions about these space missions and their path in the ion wake of 3I/ATLAS, as they are the ESA researchers behind Tailcatcher, a computer model that tracks how packets of solar wind interact with comets.

Concept art of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission

(Image Credit: NASA/JPL)

According to their calculations, Europa Clipper may be equipped to detect very subtle changes in the plasma environment in space as the comet’s material sweeps by it, moving at speeds of several hundred miles per second.

The Rarity of Interstellar Visitors

One reason 3I/ATLAS captivates astronomers is its origins beyond our solar system, which likely helps explain several of its odd characteristics. Unlike comets from within our solar system, objects like 3I/ATLAS and its predecessors 2I/Borisov and 1I/Oumuamua hail from stars in vastly distant regions in space, and therefore carry with them material they obtained during these interactions that occurred eons ago.

Because of this, current observations about 3I/ATLAS estimate that it is not only the fastest comet ever observed by astronomers, but also potentially the oldest they have ever seen.

Given their rarity, we have been able to collect virtually no data about the composition of these interstellar objects. All the information we have comes from telescopic observations or those made using camera systems on board various space probes, like those currently orbiting Mars.

Recent ESA imagery of 3I/ATLAS, obtained by the agency’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter

(Credit: ESA/TGO/CaSSIS).

As recent attempts at visualizing 3I/ATLAS have shown, at times these observations can prove to be especially challenging—not to mention the fact that amid the U.S. government shutdown, NASA has been unable to release what could be some of the most important visuals yet obtained of 3I/ATLAS, believed to have been made by the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) earlier this month.

3I/ATLAS’s “Hidden” Tail

Like the interstellar object itself, the dust trail produced by 3I/ATLAS is also well out of reach of any current space missions. However, the same can’t be said of the ionic tail the object produces while being bombarded by solar winds during its approach near the Sun.

Driven by this constant and extremely powerful flow of highly charged particles that disperse throughout our solar system from the Sun, particulates ejected from 3I/ATLAS, apart from the dusty material that immediately surrounds it, are carried away from the object in the same direction as the solar wind, producing a secondary ion tail.

Given the challenges that collecting data about these objects presents, an opportunity to sample ions left in its tail of highly charged particles, even indirectly, could provide us with the closest look at the chemistry of an alien solar system that astronomers have ever obtained.

A Missed Opportunity?

It is frustrating, therefore, that amid the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, Europa Clipper currently remains in cruise mode as it makes its way toward Jupiter and may not be able to activate its scientific instruments before this rare encounter approaches.

Hence, while we await seeing whether the MRO’s HiRISE camera was able to obtain imagery of 3I/ATLAS in its near approach to Mars on October 3, it also remains in question whether the Europa Clipper spacecraft could be activated in time for it to collect any data from the ion tail emanating from 3I/ATLAS.

For any useful data to be obtained, precision measurements will be required to discriminate between the interstellar comet’s ions and those emitted by the Sun. Fortunately, there are several ways to identify ions from comets, including the chemicals they contain, such as those related to water. In contrast, ions originating from the Sun can be expected to exhibit more helium.

Even if Europa Clipper manages to engage the ion tail of 3I/ATLAS with its instruments in operational mode, astronomers will still have to rely on the solar winds flowing strongly enough and in the right direction at the time of the encounter. Even a relatively minor angular deviation could result in the ionic stream coming from 3I/ATLAS missing the spacecraft entirely.

Hope on the Horizon

However, one promising aspect of the idea proposed by Grant and Jones is that 3I/ATLAS will reach its closest approach to the Sun, known as perihelion, on October 29. This happens to occur just prior to the predicted alignment with Europa Clipper’s path, and as the comet’s activity peaks as it nears the Sun, the ionic tail it produces will widen, which increases the chances that it may be able to detect material being ejected from it.

Additionally, the ESA’s Hera spacecraft may also pass through the solar wind streams carrying material from 3I/ATLAS between late October and November 1. However, unlike Europa Clipper, Hera is not equipped with the scientific instruments capable of measuring any charged particles it encounters.

Even if astronomers miss out on this exciting opportunity, the Tailcatcher mission has already succeeded in predicting an ion tail crossing in 2020 that led to the ESA’s Solar Orbiter detecting particles from comet C/2019 Y4. While 3I/ATLAS will likely remain out of range of such spacecraft, Tailcatcher may be able to make additional predictions based on future visits by interstellar objects that visit our solar system.

Additionally, in 2029, the ESA’s Comet Interceptor will take its position in space to await future candidates that may include an interstellar object similar to 3I/ATLAS and its predecessors, which can be targeted for a close flyby that could obtain far more than just detections of ions pulled away from the object by the solar wind.

In the near term, the upcoming alignment between 3I/ATLAS and NASA’s Europa Clipper mission offers a tantalizing advance look at future discoveries astronomers hope to be able to look forward to in the coming years, at the very least.

Or, if NASA can resume operations in time—along with the rest of the U.S. federal government and its workforce—in the days ahead, Europa Clipper may be uniquely positioned for a chance to collect information about the faint chemical fingerprints of another world0

Grant and Jones’ recent paper, “Prospects for the Crossing of Comet 3I/ATLAS’s Ion Tail,” was uploaded to the preprint server arXiv.org on October 15, 2025.

• Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.

{ https://thedebrief.org/category/space/ }

22-10-2025 om 22:54 geschreven door peter  

The interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, which is currently flying through our Solar System, continues to present astronomers with new mysteries. Initially, it was thought to be a typical icy comet. However, recent observations have revealed a surprising and rare anomaly—a so-called “anti-tail” pointing toward the Sun. This phenomenon challenges conventional wisdom about comet behavior and fuels scientific debate.

Mysterious “anti-tail”

Last August, the powerful Keck II telescope in Hawaii targeted 3I/ATLAS when it was 2.5 times farther away than the distance from Earth to the Sun. The data confirmed the presence of cyanide and nickel emissions. However, the strangest thing was that these emissions were produced not only in the usual direction away from the Sun, but also in the opposite direction, i.e., toward it.

Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb, who described the observations in detail, noted that the classic comet tail, formed by dust repelled by solar wind, was virtually invisible in the images taken in normal light. However, this mysterious “anti-tail” is clearly visible.

Nature or illusion?

Scientists offer several possible explanations for this phenomenon. 

1. Optical illusion. Due to the Earth’s unique position in its orbit, the comet’s wide dust tail can appear to “split” from our perspective, creating the impression of two structures diverging in different directions.
2. Large dust particles. The rapidly rotating nucleus of a comet can eject not only fine dust, but also larger, heavier debris. The solar wind easily repels fine dust, forming a normal tail. However, large particles remain in orbit around the nucleus, distributed both in front of and behind it. This trail of dust, directed toward the Sun, is perceived by us as an “anti-tail.”

As planetary astronomer Michael Bush explains, it doesn’t matter which side of the nucleus the ejection starts from. Small particles fly away from the Sun, while large ones remain in orbit, creating the appearance of two tails.

Object anomaly

For Avi Loeb, the 3I/ATLAS anti-tail remains an anomaly that requires attention. He wonders why experts continue to consider this object a normal comet, ignoring such strange behavior. Loeb even rated 3I/ATLAS at 4 out of 10 on his “Loeb Scale,” which measures the likelihood that an interstellar object could be the product of extraterrestrial technology. This assessment indicates the “increasingly abnormal characteristics” of the object.

Fortunately, science will have another chance to solve this mystery. Soon, 3I/ATLAS will return to Jupiter, providing a unique opportunity for NASA’s Juno and ESA’s Juice spacecraft to conduct closer observations. Perhaps they will provide the definitive answer to the question of the nature of this strange interstellar visitor.

We previously refuted the claim that 3I/ATLAS is not an extraterrestrial object.

• According to medium.com

• Posted in News, Science

RELATED VIDEOS

{ https://universemagazine.com/en/news-en/science-en/ }

22-10-2025 om 22:14 geschreven door peter  

Earth has a second MOON: NASA confirms new cosmic companion will be with us until 2083

• READ MORE: NASA unveils plans for astronauts to live on the moon

By XANTHA LEATHAM, EXECUTIVE SCIENCE EDITOR

It has been our constant celestial companion for the last 4.5 billion years.

But the moon is no longer the only cosmic body keeping Earth company, experts say.

NASA has confirmed the Earth now has two moons – at least until 2083.

Experts at the Pan–STARRS observatory in Hawaii first announced the presence of a 'quasi–moon', called '2025 PN7', last month.

They explained it is actually an asteroid that has been orbiting the Sun on a similar trajectory to our planet since the 1960s.

The tag–along is just 19 metres (62ft) wide and is the 'smallest and least stable' of the six quasi–moons that have had Earth–like orbits.

Unlike our moon, which can usually been seen with the naked eye, this rock is only visible through good telescopes.

And although it may appear to be orbiting Earth it is not gravitationally bound to our planet and will eventually drift away back into open space.

NASA have confirmed the presence of a quasi–moon, an asteroid called '2025 PN7', that has been tagging along after Earth since the 1960s. This chart shows its orbit around the Sun in relation to Earth

Scientists have been aware of quasi–satellites since 1991 when they first discovered '1991 VG' – which some believed to be an alien probe at the time.

'Over three decades later, it is now widely accepted that such objects are natural and constitute a secondary asteroid belt that occupies the region in which the Earth–moon system orbits around the sun,' researchers behind the newest discovery said.

While it may sound like this neighbour has been 'following' Earth for quite some time, it's relatively short compared to another famous quasi–moon, Kamo'oalewa, which has an Earth–related orbit lasting around 381 years.

Quasi–moons are part of a special category of space objects called Arjunas, that move in sync with our planet's journey around the sun.

2025 PN7 maintains a wide range of distances from Earth – anywhere between around 2.8 million miles (4.5 million km) and 37 million miles (59 million km).

These quasi–moons in Earth–like orbits are 'full of surprises' co–author Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, from the Complutense University of Madrid, said last month.

This new quasi–moon is 'small, faint and visibility windows from Earth are rather unfavourable, so it is not surprising that it went unnoticed for that long,' he explained.

The latest discovery was recently published in Research Notes of the AAS.

Unlike our moon (pictured) which can usually been seen with the naked eye, the quasi-moon is only visible through good telescopes

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, which recently became operational, can scan for other quasi–moons and 'may uncover many more'.

Read More

•  Celestial standoff! Scientists capture an image of two black holes circling each other for the first time 

Alongside quasi–moons, the Earth is sometimes joined by 'minimoons' – objects that do orbit our planet but only temporarily.

Only four have ever been discovered, and none are still orbiting Earth.

Experts from The Planetary Society said: 'Quasi–moons and minimoons are pieces of our neighbourhood in space, and they carry information about where they come from. They might originate in the main asteroid belt, from impacts on the Moon, or from the break–up of larger objects on similar orbits — scientists don't know for sure.

'Answering that question, and finding out what these almost–moons are made of, can help researchers learn more about asteroids and how they threaten Earth.'

The phases of the moon

Like Earth, the Moon has a day side and a night side, which change as the Moon rotates. 

The Sun always illuminates half of the Moon while the other half remains dark, but how much we are able to see of that illuminated half changes as the Moon travels through its orbit.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the phases of the moon are:

1. New Moon

This is the invisible phase of the Moon, with the illuminated side of the Moon facing the Sun and the night side facing Earth.

2. Waxing crescent

This silver sliver of a Moon occurs when the illuminated half of the Moon faces mostly away from Earth, with only a tiny portion visible to us from our planet.

3. First Quarter 

The Moon is now a quarter of the way through its monthly journey and you see half of its illuminated side. 

4. Waxing Gibbous

Now most of the Moon's dayside has come into view, and the Moon appears brighter in the sky. 

5. Full Moon

This is as close as we come to seeing the Sun's illumination of the entire day side of the Moon.

6. Waning Gibbous

As the Moon begins its journey back toward the Sun, the opposite side of the Moon now reflects the Moon’s light. 

7. Last Quarter

The Moon looks like it’s half illuminated from the perspective of Earth, but really you’re seeing half of the half of the Moon that’s illuminated by the Sun ― or a quarter. 

8. Waning Crescent

The Moon is nearly back to the point in its orbit where its dayside directly faces the Sun, and all that we see from our perspective is a thin curve. 

RELATED VIDEOS

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

22-10-2025 om 21:52 geschreven door peter  

Scientist issues chilling warning as interstellar visitor slips behind the sun TOMORROW

• READ MORE: America's most renowned 'prophet' makes startling prediction about alien 'mothership'

By STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

A Harvard scientist tracking the interstellar visitor in our solar system has issued a warning about its move behind the sun on Tuesday.

The object, dubbed 3I/ATLAS, will be exactly on the opposite side of the sun relative to Earth, constituting a so-called `solar-conjunction,' tomorrow, which Avi Loeb said would be 'an opportune time for technological action.'

Loeb explained that in space travel, the best time to speed up or slow down a spacecraft is when it's closest to a large object, since firing the engine at that point, known as the Oberth effect, gives the biggest change in speed.

'If 3I/ATLAS is a massive mothership, it will likely continue along its original gravitational path and ultimately exit the Solar system,' the professor shared in a Sunday blog post.

'In that case, the Oberth maneuver might apply to the mini-probes it releases at perihelion towards Solar system planets.'

3I/ATLAS will reach its best window for such Oberth maneuvers just eight days after it slips behind the sun, which will  put it the closest to the sun at about 126 million miles away, he added.

While Loeb has floated the idea that 3I/ATLAS could be of extraterrestrial origin, NASA has long maintained that the object is simply a comet from a distant galaxy. 

However, that conclusion has not stopped Loeb from calling for more data before the case is closed. 

A Harvard scientist warned interstellar visitor could perform a 'technological action' eight days after moving behind the sun on Tuesday

'As of now, 3I/ATLAS appears most likely to be a natural comet,' Loeb shared on hist Medium post.

'But the remote possibility of an Oberth maneuver must be considered seriously as a black swan event with a small probability, because of its huge implications for humanity.'

The professor added that he has identified several anomalies that have suggested the object could be of alien origin. 

The trajectory of 3I/ATLAS is aligned within five degrees of the ecliptic plane, which is the same plane in which the planets orbit the sun, he shared.

Unlike typical comets, it displayed a sunward jet, or anti-tail, that is not a mere optical illusion caused by viewing angle. 

This stream of gas and dust is unusual because comet tails are typically pushed away from the sun by solar radiation and wind. 

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope observed a similar phenomenon, capturing an extended glow aimed sunward in late July.

Loeb explained that the glow stretched roughly ten times longer than it was wide, forming what he described as the geometry of a jet directed at the sun, a pattern unlike any known comet.

NASA's James Webb spotted the interstellar visitor in August

The object is also far more massive than previous interstellar visitors, measuring about a million times heavier than 1I/'Oumuamua and a thousand times heavier than 2I/Borisov, while moving even faster than both, he explained.

Loeb also highlighted 3I/ATALS' arrival timing, allowing it to pass within tens of millions of miles of Mars, Venus and Jupiter, yet remain unobservable from Earth at perihelion. 

Spectral data further showed that the gas plume surrounding 3I/ATLAS contains much more nickel than iron, similar to industrially produced nickel alloys, with a nickel-to-cyanide ratio far exceeding that of any known comet. 

Loeb noted that it also contains only four percent water by mass, a striking contrast to the water-rich makeup of ordinary comets. 

Adding to the mystery, 3I/ATLAS exhibits extreme negative polarization, a property never before seen in any comet, and it entered the solar system from a direction within nine degrees of the famous 'Wow! Signal' detected by radio astronomers. 

'Gladly, we expect to get data on 3I/ATLAS shortly after perihelion. On November 4, 2025, ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) will pass within 40 million miles of 3I/ATLAS,' Loeb said.

'If 3I/ATLAS maintains a trajectory shaped by gravity alone, it will come closest to Earth on December 19, 2025, at a distance of 167 million miles.

'On March 16, 2026, 3I/ATLAS will pass within 34 million miles of Jupiter and be observable to sensors in the UV, infrared, and radio bands onboard the Juno spacecraft.' 

RELATED VIDEOS

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

21-10-2025 om 21:33 geschreven door peter  

Damage was quickly observed on the right side of the aircraft’s windshield, prompting a diversion to Salt Lake City, where the aircraft safely landed approximately 50 minutes later.

“Unfortunately we have some bad news,” one of the pilots was heard saying over the aircraft intercom according to Heather Ramsey, a passenger aboard the flight at the time of the incident.

“The aircraft has collided with an object,” the pilot told passengers during the announcement.

Ramsey, who shared her account with Fox 11 Los Angeles, said she overheard one of the flight attendants warning other members of the crew to move to the back of the aircraft and to immediately stop in-flight service.

“It was really scary,” Ramsey said, adding that she and other passengers were “holding our breath until the very end.” 

The 134 passengers on board the flight were transferred to another aircraft once they reached Salt Lake City, which carried them on to their destination in Los Angeles.

Shortly after the incident, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a statement saying the aircraft had safely made its way Salt Lake City, and that it was collecting information about the incident.

“The NTSB is investigating a cracked windscreen on a Boeing 737-8 during cruise flight near Moab, Utah, Thursday,” a portion of the statement read. “Operating as United flight 1093 from DEN to LAX, airplane diverted safely to SLC.”

The cockpit of the Boeing 737 MAX after the collision.

Source: @aviationbrk

The NTSB also said that the damaged windscreen had been sent to a laboratory where it would be examined to try to determine what the object that struck the aircraft might have been, as speculations ensue about whether debris from a spacecraft reentry, or even a potential meteor impact, could have been involved.

“[P]eople are starting to discuss what this might have been, and the ‘space debris’ (whatever that ends up being) idea is most definitely -not- being dismissed as a possibility,” wrote user JonNYC in a posting about the incident on X.

However, Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer with the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, told The Debrief in an email that there were “no known reentry matches” that link the incident to any spacecraft falling to Earth at the time.

Hesar added that the odds of such incidents occurring “are gradually increasing due to the growing number of satellites and spacecraft being launched into orbit.”

“Both commercial and government operators are adding to this population, and most of these objects will eventually reenter Earth’s atmosphere,” Hesar told The Debrief. “As a result, we can expect to see a rising number of reentry events in the coming years.”

While there are no known reentry events that are believed to have coincided with last week’s concerning incident, that still does not rule out the possibility that a meteor could have caused the damage to the aircraft. However, investigators have revealed no evidence supporting this potential source, nor any other possible links to objects falling from space at this time.

Following the incident, images circulated online which reportedly showed the arm of one of the pilots in the cockpit shortly after the collision with the object, revealing several lacerations caused by glass from the broken windshield.

According to a statement issued by United Airlines, the aircraft landed safely “without major injuries reported among passengers or crew,” which apparently confirmed the possibility that minor injuries had occurred during the incident.

Information made available in an incident report at the website of the Aviation Safety Network revealed that the aircraft windshield’s “laminated structure was severely shattered” and that the instrument panel and control surfaces within the cockpit “were contaminated with fine glass particles.”

“Visible impact damage was present on the external surface of the aircraft nose,” the report added.

Fortunately, the aircraft’s multilayer windshield is designed to be capable of remaining functional even in the event of damage being sustained to one or more of its layers.

Currently, while the investigation remains underway, the situation has been further complicated by the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, which has left many NTSB employees, as well as those employed with the Federal Aviation Administration, furloughed.

The NTSB says that it is “gathering radar, weather, [and] flight recorder data” in its ongoing investigation, but no additional details about the incident have been made available at this time.

• Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.

{ https://thedebrief.org/category/space/ }

20-10-2025 om 22:03 geschreven door peter  

“Our key new result is that dark matter fits the gamma ray data at least as well as the rival neutron star hypothesis,” the study’s lead author, Joseph Silk, a professor of physics and astronomy at Johns Hopkins and a researcher at the Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris and Sorbonne University, told The Debrief. “We have increased the odds that dark matter has been indirectly detected.”

Since the Fermi satellite, launched in 2008, first discovered the mysterious glow at the center of the Milky Way, several explanations have been proposed to explain its origin. The most promising theories propose that the light comes from either collisions of dark matter particles or from quickly spinning neutron stars.

While the second concept involves proven phenomena, the possibility that the glow is caused by dark matter is particularly intriguing to scientists. This is because dark matter itself is still purely theoretical and lacks definitive proof, as it does not interact with light and therefore cannot be “seen.” Instead, scientists have had to infer dark matter’s existence from its gravitational effects on ordinary matter, while continuing to explore new ways to prove its existence.

In a statement detailing the team‘s research,  explained that dark matter “dominates the universe and holds galaxies together,” making its detection a major scientific priority for decades.

“It’s extremely consequential, and we’re desperately thinking all the time of ideas as to how we could detect it,” Professor Silk explained. “Gamma rays, and specifically the excess light we’re observing at the center of our galaxy, could be our first clue.”

In a series of simulations, the professor and an international research team used several supercomputers to create virtual “maps” of locations within the Milky Way that current theories predict dark matter to be located. The team notes that their simulations took into account how the galaxy was formed “for the first time in history,” resulting in an unprecedented level of detail in the final maps.

This critical component of the simulations involved modeling the movement of dark matter during the first billion years of the Milky Way’s existence. The research team said that’s because galactic formation theories predict that many smaller galaxy-like systems entered the Milky Way and became its “building blocks.” During this phase, dark matter particles gravitate toward the center of the galaxy and form clusters. This clustering would result in higher numbers of dark matter collisions, which could, in theory, produce the mysterious glow that still exists today.

According to the team’s statement, when they factored in “more realistic” dark matter collisions, their simulations produced maps that matched actual gamma ray maps previously captured by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The team said the matching simulated and real-world maps “round out a triad of evidence” supporting dark matter collisions as the cause of the mysterious glow at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

“Gamma rays coming from dark matter particle collisions would produce the same signal and have the same properties as those observed in the real world,” they explain, “though it’s not definitive proof.”

A second scenario considered in the team’s study involves reinvigorated, old, rapidly spinning neutron stars, known as millisecond pulsars, which could emit the gamma rays. Still, the team notes that the theory is “imperfect,” since their simulations would have to assume there are more millisecond pulsars than have been previously observed in the real world. Conversely, the dark matter collision simulated maps accurately match the real-world observations.

Up next, Professor Silk’s team is preparing follow-up experiments that could determine if the gamma rays causing the mysterious glow at the center of the Milky Way are high-energy rays or low-energy rays. If the experiments show the glow is composed of high-energy rays, the finding would support the millisecond pulsars as its cause. However, Silk notes, if the gamma rays turn out to be low-energy rays caused by dark matter collisions, it would be the first direct evidence for the existence of dark matter ever discovered.

“A clean signal would be a smoking gun, in my opinion,” the professor said.

The team said that figuring out when they will be able to perform these experiments may depend on the completion of the “huge” Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). Currently in the construction phase, the array is specifically designed to detect gamma rays of varying energies.

“The Cherenkov Telescope Array under construction in Chile is expected to be the first to provide the necessary sensitivity to test our dark matter hypothesis,” Professor Silk told The Debrief.

While awaiting the observatory’s completion, the team is already working on predictions on potential dark matter clusters within several dwarf galaxies that currently circle the Milky Way. Once the high-res data from Cherenkov is available and compared to the prediction maps, the professor said the team may find the proof of dark matter they are hoping for or support for the millisecond pulsar concept.

“Two possibilities are being considered,” the professor told The Debrief. “One is to look at the Galactic center excess at higher energies. The dark matter hypothesis has no signal because gamma ray energies are limited by the mass of the colliding particles.”

Conversely, the professor said that’s not the case with millisecond pulsars. He also pointed out that the new array will be capable of studying several nearby dwarf galaxies that are “known to consist mostly of dark matter.”

“Detecting the same signal Fermi found for the galactic center would confirm the DM hypothesis,” Silk told The Debrief.

Of course, given the unknown nature of dark matter and the mysterious nature of the galactic glow coming from the center of the Milky Way, the professor conceded that the results may hint at a cause they hadn’t even considered.

“It’s possible we will see the new data and confirm one theory over the other,” Silk explained. “Or maybe we’ll find nothing, in which case it’ll be an even greater mystery to resolve.”

• The study, “Fermi-LAT Galactic Center Excess morphology of dark matter in simulations of the Milky Way galaxy,” was published in Physical Review Letters.
• Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.

RELATED VIDEOS

{ https://thedebrief.org/category/space/ }

19-10-2025 om 21:37 geschreven door peter