Not visible is the 12 mile high ring around the equator ...
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.
.....
(Excerpt) Read more at futurism.com ...
The stars, like dust. Beautiful!
Ever heard of “Rendezvous with Rama”. The Ramans always do things in threes.
LOL! That’s the pic I was looking for.
Wild speculation. Impossible to prove/disprove.
A chunk of planet Krypton?
"Hey, Bomb..."
There’s no mystery. It’s a comet.
—
Comets by definition are mostly water-bearing, rocky objects.
This object lacks those characteristics and as such is a totally new class of object. It is not a comet.
There is nothing in the Bible that precludes this sort of thing. “World upon world were, before Adam was.”
Coming thru the Oort cloud this will kick loose hundreds of comets — into the inner system.
Lots of dinosaurs died this way.
Baby Kal-El!
Let me guess. The Ramans’ staple food is instant noodles?
My ‘paper’ frames such ideas on a near daily basis...
...then comes a flushing sound...
There’s a market for that. Forgotten Doctoral Theses Toilet Paper. Read it, use it, flush it.
A new dimension on ‘reuse’...
I was a fan of the first two movies (Alien and Aliens) after which the franchise took a nosedive with Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection. The two prequels, while not great movies, were IMHO a step in the right direction to atone for the last two sequels.
Many thanks. I’ll search YT for them.
Not exactly. Book was written by Arthur C. Clark. Very good read.
If I encounter it, I’ll read it over a steaming bowl of Raman noodles.
Sounds appropriate 😁
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.