NASA«s Mars Rover May Have Spotted a Comet from Another World in the Martian Sky

Photo: NASA

Amateur astronomers speculate that the Perseverance rover, using its navigation camera, may have captured images of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS passing by the Red Planet. NASA has not yet confirmed this, according to Focus.

On October 4, the navigation camera of the Perseverance rover captured images of an object in the night sky of Mars that amateur astronomers speculate could be the comet 3I/ATLAS, which arrived in our cosmic neighborhood from another star system. The date of the photographs coincides with the time of a close flyby of the interstellar comet near Mars. However, NASA has not yet confirmed that the rover saw this particular comet in the sky of the Red Planet, according to Space.

It is worth noting that the third interstellar object discovered in the Solar System, 3I/ATLAS, which is considered a comet, was detected on July 1 of this year. Preliminary data shows that the comet's nucleus has a diameter of over five kilometers, and this comet may weigh an impressive 33 billion tons. As Focus previously reported, there are scientists who believe that the object from another star system could be an alien spacecraft.

Currently, the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is not visible from Earth and will only appear in our field of view at the end of this year. However, it can be seen from the surface of Mars and from orbit around the planet. NASA had previously planned to use orbital spacecraft that orbit Mars to observe 3I/ATLAS. The Perseverance rover was also intended to be used for this purpose. Official data from these observations may soon be presented.

On October 3, the interstellar comet passed by Mars at its closest distance to the planet—30 million kilometers. On October 4, the navigation camera of the Perseverance rover captured images of an object in the night sky of Mars, which could be this comet that was still nearby.

Currently, NASA is temporarily not operational due to the cessation of government funding. However, Perseverance continues to send raw images that are available for viewing by anyone on the space agency's website. It is there that amateur astronomers discovered what they believe are images of 3I/ATLAS.

It is possible that the rover actually saw an orbital spacecraft. Now we must wait for an official announcement from NASA when the agency resumes its work to clarify what is visible in the photographs.

Previously, NASA had already used the Hubble and Webb space telescopes to observe the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. Scientists continue to study it to accurately understand its chemical composition. It is believed that this comet may be older than our Sun, and its characteristics could tell astronomers about the birthplace of this object.