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Tengrinews.kz – The interstellar object 3I/ATLAS has performed a maneuver while approaching the Sun, showing the first evidence of non-gravitational acceleration, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), as reported by RIA Novosti.
“The radial acceleration from the Sun is 135 kilometers (=9×10⁻⁷ AU) per day squared. The transverse acceleration relative to the direction toward the Sun is 60 kilometers (=4×10⁻⁷ AU) per day squared,” the report states.
This unusual maneuver was recorded at a distance of about 203 million kilometers from the Sun.
Earlier, Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb wrote in his blog that the object 3I/ATLAS, passing through the Solar System, had chosen a strange trajectory consistent with an Oberth maneuver.
“Unfortunately, we cannot observe 3I/ATLAS from Earth at this opportune time, which raises the question of whether its trajectory was fine-tuned by extraterrestrial intelligence?” he wrote.
According to Loeb, the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS has already passed the halfway point of its journey through the Solar System, but its new trajectory intensifies speculation about a possible extraterrestrial origin.
Based on his calculations, on December 19, 2025, the object will reach its closest point to Earth — about 267 million kilometers away — and will then follow a purely gravitational trajectory, which could clarify the nature of its motion.
The 3I/ATLAS is an interstellar comet that entered our Solar System from deep space. It was first discovered on July 1, 2025, using the ATLAS survey telescope in Chile.
Scientists call it interstellar because it is not bound to the Sun — its hyperbolic orbit ensures that after passing near our star, it will leave the Solar System forever.
3I/ATLAS is the third known object originating from outside the Solar System, after 1I/‘Oumuamua and the Borisov comet.
