An Earth-based telescope has captured an interstellar object speeding through our Solar System, spewing a mysterious metal that defies natural expectations.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile detected an unusual nickel plume from the object, known as 3I/ATLAS. Unlike natural comets, which always emit nickel alongside iron, 3I/ATLAS shows nickel without any detectable iron.
Harvard physicist Avi Loeb highlighted the anomaly, noting that this nickel signature is a hallmark of industrial production of nickel alloys.
‘Is this anomaly another clue for a possible technological origin of 3I/ATLAS?’ Loeb wrote in a blog post.
‘The paper suggests that chemical formation occurs through the nickel carbonyl channel, an extremely rare process in comets, but a standard technique in industrial nickel refining,’ he added.
Data show that 3I/ATLAS is shedding nickel at roughly five grams per second and cyanide at 20 grams per second, with both rising sharply as it nears the sun.
Researchers noted that the mechanisms driving these emissions are not typical of natural cometary processes.
They hypothesized that nickel might be released from dust through gentle processes, such as sunlight, causing it to evaporate or breaking down small nickel-containing compounds.
This is a developing story… More updates to come
A new study has revealed that the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS is releasing nickel without iron, an anomaly that a Harvard physicist said could hint at industrial or technological processes
Traditional comets are typically water-rich and release gases such as water, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide as they approach the sun.
They also emit nickel and iron together, as both elements are produced in the same cosmic processes, like supernova explosions.
3I/ATLAS, however, deviates sharply from this pattern by releasing nickel without any detectable iron.
The object’s gas plume is dominated by 95 percent carbon dioxide, with only five percent water, making it chemically very different from typical comets.
Additionally, both nickel and cyanide emissions rise steeply as it approaches the sun, unlike the more gradual outgassing seen in normal comets.
