Posted on 09/21/2025 4:57:09 AM PDT by Eleutheria5
Astronomers have been fascinated after spotting an object earlier this year that came from interstellar space as is now hurtling through our inner solar system.
Since then, they've been using powerful telescopes to study the mysterious object, trying to understand its unusual composition and exact origins. Most agree that it's probably a comet, albeit an unusual one, though at least one has posited that it could be a remnant of an advanced extraterrestrial civilization — a colorful claim, but one that NASA has disputed as a flight of fancy.
Regardless, it's an interesting visitor. In a paper presented at the Joint Meeting of the Europlanet Science Congress and the Division of Planetary Sciences last week in Germany, astrophysicist Susanne Pfalzner raised an intriguing possibility: objects like 3I/ATLAS could become the "seeds" of giant planets after being captured in the discs of dust and gas surrounding a young star.
"Interstellar objects may be able to jump-start planet formation, in particular around higher-mass stars," said Pfalzner in a statement.
It's an intriguing hypothesis that could potentially solve more than one mystery surrounding our understanding of how planets form over millions of years, and one that would make these lonely objects traveling vast distances far more influential than previously thought.
According to our current theory of planet formation, smaller particles lump together to form larger objects and eventually planet-sized bodies, a process known as accretion.
However, that doesn't explain why relatively large planets, such as gas giants, have been spotted orbiting young stars. Computer simulations have shown that accreted material tends to shatter and bounce off each other instead of lumping together.
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(Excerpt) Read more at futurism.com ...
In the last 7 years, we have identified 3 objects which definitely originate from outside the solar system. Prior to that, none. So we either failed to identify them, or?
Curiouser and curiouser.
Panspermia?
Rubbish. There are millions of objects the size of 31/ATLAS or greater roaming the solar system. Being from interstellar space gives it no advantages in “planet seeding”—just the opposite since interstellar objects will almost always take hyperbolic paths back out again.
Remind me to never eat at that restaurant.
Someone needs to write a fantastic script or novel along the lines of War Of The Worlds, about this. Laz?
Looks interesting; what’s the movie’s name?
</chuckle>
Yup—most science fiction writers have more compelling and credible narratives that a lot of scientists these days.
Prior to that we didn't have the telescopes in orbit looking for them.
‘You can observe a lot, just by watching” - Yogi Berra
We didn’t even know that our galaxy was one of billions until 100 years ago. Up until around 100 years ago most of us thought our local group of galaxies was the universe. We couldn’t discern planets orbiting distant stars until very recently.
Our observation platforms and methods are getting better, so we are seeing things we missed before. That’s all there is to it, it’s not some great conspiracy.
Accretion.
Gravity results in accretion that results in planets and rings.
Earth’s ring consists of only the moon
What we know now is that we really don’t know anything.
What the new telescopes reveal is simply beyond comprehension
Hubble has been up there for over 30 years. Atlas is ground based.
Then that paper finds its way to the head, or the other end. Um, you know what I mean, the Sears catalogue's secondary usage of old.
There’s no mystery. It’s a comet.
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