Is 3I/ATLAS An Alien Probe? James Webb Telescope Finds 'Anomalous' Methane on Interstellar Comet

Is 3I/ATLAS An Alien Probe? James Webb Telescope Finds 'Anomalous' Methane on Interstellar Comet

By the time the rumours reached the 'alien probe' stage, 3I/ATLAS had already slipped past the Sun and was heading back into the dark, doing what comets do best: ignoring human drama. Yet a faint, stubborn chemical trace in its tail – methane that arrived late to the party – has been enough to send part of the internet reaching for science‑fiction analogies and asking, with a straight face, whether this icy rock might really be a visiting machin…

3I/Atlas Status Update 2026

On July 1, 2025, telescopes of the NASA-funded ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) survey in Chile spotted a fast-moving, faint object. Quickly designated A11pl3Z, its calculated path immediately stood out: it was moving on a hyperbolic trajectory too fast to be bound by the Sun’s gravity. This object was not from our solar system. Now known as comet 3I/Atlas, it became only the third confirmed interstellar visitor after 1I/‘Ou…

NASA’s SPHEREx Examines Comet 3I/ATLAS’s Coma - NASA Science

2 Min Read NASA’s SPHEREx Examines Comet 3I/ATLAS’s Coma PIA26720 Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech Photojournal Navigation Science Photojournal NASA’s SPHEREx Examines… Photojournal Home Photojournal Search Latest Content Galleries Feedback RSS About   Downloads NASA’s SPHEREx Examines Comet 3I/ATLAS’s Coma PNG (1.87 MB) Description These observations by NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for th…