New Delhi: New observations of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS have caused new scientific controversy following a just-released image which revealed a tail on the comet that was unusually thin, straight, and sharply defined. NASA’s ATLAS telescope has only the third known alien visitor to our solar system: the comet that was found on July 1, 2025. Its most recent photograph was taken on November 22 by astrophotographer Mitsunori Tsumura and sparked arguments on the internet that the object was not acting as any known comet.
According to astronomers, the tail exhibits no apparent curvature, does not expand with range and expands suddenly in brightness, none of which are characteristic of standard dust or ion tails generated by sunlight and solar wind. These strange features have brought back a fresh wave of study by researchers and space enthusiasts, with some indicating that 3I/ATLAS could transform new understanding about the behaviour of interstellar comets.
🚨: 3I/ATLAS Just Broke Every Rule of Comet Physics — Again
Mitsunori Tsumura has once again captured an extraordinary view of 3I/ATLAS. Though the observation was made on November 22, the image was only released a few hours ago.
🔴 NON-COMET-LIKE ANOMALIES VISIBLE IN THIS… pic.twitter.com/0KOhbwLWdm
— All day Astronomy (@forallcurious) November 28, 2025
A tail that defies comet physics?
In one of the astronomy accounts on X, it was pointed out that the tail of the comet is still skinny and pointed, instead of dispersing like a plume. According to experts, the absence of expansion is contrary to a perceived gas and dust stream emanating out of the nucleus of a comet. The post also mentioned that the tail is virtually straight, and no curvature can be produced in the orbit, which is unusual in the observation of comets.
The other aberration that was identified is the discrepancy between the brightness of the coma and the unexpected dimming of the tail. Comet tails normally dissipate over time as a result of dust scattering; however, in 3I/ATLAS, the tail is dropping at a steep rate, casting doubts on the material that constitutes the tail.
Avi Loeb raises new questions
This debate escalated when Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb pointed out other strange characteristics. The nucleus of 3I/ATLAS, according to Loeb, is multiple times larger than the other interstellar objects that have been detected so far, 1I/ʻOumuamua and 2I/Borisov, and is travelling even faster than them. He puts the probability of such a combination happening by chance at less than 0.1 per cent.
Loeb further proposed that the mechanism that may have contributed to the non-gravitational acceleration of the object may be an internal one, even providing a possibility that there is a substantial likelihood the comet was artificially formed. Using a recent study of the quick brightening in the comet, he remarked that 3I/ATLAS is now becoming bluer than the Sun, providing an additional enigma to the interstellar traveller.