&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "3I/ATLAS Live Tracker: China releases image of 3I/ATLAS taken by Tianwen-1 Mars Orbiter")
3I/ATLAS has thrown scientists off their game who are trying hard to figure out what's going on with it. Near the Sun, it changed its colour, brightness and even speed. It showed a non-gravitational acceleration, which came as a surprise. Meanwhile, people are gazing through their binoculars and telescopes to catch a glimpse of this interstellar comet before it vanishes forever. Meanwhile, fresh images after it emerged from the Sun's glare show a lack of tail once again, which Avi Loeb has flagged as an anomaly. He says the absence of a huge cloud of gas and dust around 3I/ATLAS will reveal the true nature of the object.
China National Space Administration (CNSA) has released an image of 3I/ATLAS taken on October 3 by the Tianwen-1 Mars Orbiter. On this day, the interstellar object was 28.96 million kilometres from the orbiter. The picture was taken by the High-Resolution Imaging Camera (HiRIC) on board the orbiter.
Things will become clearer on 3I/ATLAS after it starts becoming clearer from Earth. Scientists are constantly observing it and waiting to see how it appears following its encounter with the Sun. It needs to have a huge cloud of gas and dust around it if it is a comet, according to Avi Loeb. Latest images do not show a tail or this cloud.
NASA data shows that 3I/ATLAS suddenly sped up near the Sun. It soared by approximately 244,620 km/hr. NASA thinks the sun's gravity caused its speed to shoot up. However, this theory isn't foolproof, and scientists are trying to figure out why it moved away from the Sun.
Till now, this has not been seen. According to Avi Loeb, considering how much mass 3I/ATLAS should have lost near the Sun, there should be a 5 billion tons of cloud around it. But, till now, we are not seeing it.
3I/ATLAS is now visible from Earth. Experts have suggested where to look for the comet. You can also use a tracker to follow the interstellar comet. Here is one from The Sky Live tracker, that can tell you the exact location of the alien visitor.
Images released by the R. Naves Observatory and the Virtual Telescope Project show 3I/ATLAS distinctly lacking a tail. Harvard scientist Avi Loeb shared the pictures and flagged the lack of a cometary tail. He compared it to the solar system’s comet Lemmon, which looks like a typical comet with a lengthy tail away from the Sun.
