Scientists confirmed the natural origin of comet 3I/ATLAS

Radio signals emitted by comet 3I/Atlas confirm its natural origin and put an end to discussions about the nature of its appearance.

As reported by BAKU.WS, this was announced to TASS by Natan Eismont, a leading researcher at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and associate professor at the Department of Mechanics and Control Processes at the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia.

"Indeed, radio telescopes have detected a signal emitted by the comet in the decimeter range at frequencies of 1665-1667 megahertz, which is precisely characteristic of star-forming regions and comets," said Eismont. According to him, such radio emission is associated with the breakdown of water molecules under the influence of sunlight. "And this is the best evidence that comet 3I/Atlas has a natural origin," the scientist noted. Currently, he said, astronomers around the world continue to monitor the object and may receive new radio signals in the established frequency spectrum.

It was previously reported that comet 3I/ATLAS became the third interstellar celestial body discovered by astronomers in all of observational history. It is currently continuing to approach Earth, but will not be visible in the sky either to the naked eye or through amateur telescopes and binoculars. Observing 3I/ATLAS is only possible with powerful telescopes in scientific observatories.

The comet is expected to make its closest approach to Earth on December 19 - coming within 269 million kilometers - after which they will begin to move away from each other in space. Comet 3I/ATLAS is absolutely safe for the planet.