The Astronomy Thread

The non gravitational acceleration resulted when a fairly large probe was fired at high velocity, while behind the sun. The probe took advantage of a slingshot around Venus which was conveniently close at the time, and is currently hurtling toward earth, to arrive in early December while we're all distracted looking at Atlas itself.

My favorite wild ass theory anyway. "AI" says the math checks out so its good enough for 2025

Latest highlights from Avi Loeb

After it emerged from behind the sun, Atlas shows an unusual multi-tail structure.

The image shows two anti-tail jets out to 10 arcminutes towards the Sun accompanied by a longer collimated jet, extending away from the Sun out to an angular separation of 30 arcminutes, roughly the diameter of the Sun or the Moon.

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Did it brighten and reduce its mass because it exploded?

This would mean that 3I/ATLAS exploded at perihelion and we are witnessing the resulting fireworks. In other words, the latest image implies that 3I/ATLAS was decimated by heating from the Sun if it is a natural comet.
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However, if upcoming observations were to reveal that 3I/ATLAS was not decimated by the Sun and maintained its integrity as a single body, then we will have to consider that it is something other than a natural comet.

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