Otkrivenje i spekulacije
Ranije ovog mjeseca astronomi su uočili rijedak međuzvjezdani objekt 3I/ATLAS kako juri prema centru Sunčevog sistema neobičnom putanjom i velikom brzinom. Spekulacije su se brzo pojavile, uključujući ideju da je 3I/ATLAS možda gotovo star koliko i Mliječni put i mnogo stariji od našeg Sunca. Pojam 3I/ATLAS, međuzvjezdani objekt, kometa i asteroid postao je tema intenzivne debate.
Avi Loeb i kontroverze
Avi Loeb, poznat po tvrdnjama o objektu 'Oumuamua, ponovo je u centru pažnje. On smatra da su potrebna dalja posmatranja da bi se utvrdila priroda 3I/ATLAS — kometa ili asteroid — ali nije isključio "tantalizing possibility" da je objekt "sent towards the inner solar system by design". Kritika je uslijedila nakon što su njegovi prijedlozi uklonjeni iz javnih zapisa i znanstvenih komentara, što ponovo podgrejava kontroverzu oko njegove teorije o mogućim vanzemaljskim sondama.
Loeb je objavio rad u kojem tvrdi da je 3I/ATLAS, zbog svoje "anomalously bright" prirode, promjera oko 12.4 miles, znatno veći od 'Oumuamua. Kao što je napisano: "size estimate makes little sense for an interstellar asteroid because the interstellar object 1I/'Oumuamua was 200 times smaller, and based on the statistics of asteroids in the Solar system, we should have discovered a million objects of the scale of 1I/'Oumuamua before spotting one interstellar object that is [roughly 12.4 miles] in diameter," Loeb wrote. "We know that [12.4-mile] asteroids are rare, because non-avian dinosaurs were killed by an asteroid half that size 66 million ago, whereas meter-scale asteroids impact the Earth every year," he added.
Novija posmatranja ukazuju na odsustvo spektarnih tragova gasova, pa 3I/ATLAS najvjerovatnije nije kometa, kako je ranije sugerisano. "If 3I/ATLAS is not an asteroid — based on the interstellar reservoir argument in my paper, nor a comet — based on the lack of the spectral fingerprints of carbon-based molecules around it, then what is it?" Loeb asked. On dodaje da će nadolazeći podaci razjasniti anomaliju: "The size anomaly of 3I/ATLAS will be easily clarified by upcoming data," Loeb wrote. "The simplest hypothesis is that 3I/ATLAS is a comet and we are missing the spectral features of its gaseous coma because of its large distance from Earth," he added. Na kraju, Loeb poziva na znatiželju: "Let us instead maintain our childhood curiosity and seek evidence rather than pretend to be the adults in the room that know the answers in advance," he concluded. "Science does not need to feel like a lecture in a classroom, summarizing past knowledge. It could be far more exciting if the teachers would be willing to learn something new!"
