INVESTIGATINGScienceThe interstellar object 3I/ATLAS exhibits an anomaly that defies known physics: its dark side is hotter than the side facing the Sun. NASA's thermal models cannot account for this behavior, and the object has already shown anomalous characteristics similar to the controversial 'Oumuamua.
“The interstellar object 3I/ATLAS exhibits an anomaly that defies known physics: its dark side is hotter than the side facing the Sun. NASA's thermal models cannot account for this behavior, and the object has already shown anomalous characteristics similar to the controversial 'Oumuamua.”
The third confirmed interstellar object to visit our solar system is doing something that shouldn't be possible: its dark side is hotter than the side facing the Sun.
NASA's own thermal simulations cannot explain this behavior. In every known model of celestial body thermodynamics, the sun-facing side should be warmer. Period. That's how physics works — unless something else is generating heat from within or the object's composition is unlike anything we've catalogued.
3I/ATLAS is the third interstellar visitor after 'Oumuamua and Borisov. 'Oumuamua was controversial because of its unusual acceleration, cigar shape, and lack of outgassing — anomalies that led Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb to publicly suggest it could be an artificial probe. Now 3I/ATLAS arrives with its own set of inexplicable characteristics.
The r/HighStrangeness community noted the anomaly has generated significant scientific interest, with the post reaching nearly 500 upvotes. The question no one in official channels wants to ask: if two out of three interstellar visitors exhibit anomalous behavior, what are the odds that's natural?
No one's said anything yet. Be the first to drop your take.
