In a rare celestial event that has captivated astronomers, an interstellar visitor is on a precise course for a flyby of Jupiter. The comet, known as 3I/ATLAS, is scheduled to pass by the gas giant on March 16, 2026. However, it is not just the flyby that has scientists intrigued, but an almost perfect mathematical alignment that some suggest could reveal the object’s “most remarkable anomaly” and perhaps even an artificial origin.
What Is So Special About This Comet’s Path?
The intrigue revolves around a critical boundary in space known as the Hill sphere. This is the region around a planet where its own gravity is stronger than the Sun’s, allowing it to hold onto moons. When 3I/ATLAS makes its closest approach to Jupiter, called perijove, it will be 53.445 million kilometres away. Amazingly, this is almost the same as Jupiter’s Hill sphere radius at that moment, which is estimated at 53.502 million kilometres. This means the comet will be skimming the very edge of Jupiter’s gravitational dominance.
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Could This Be a Technological Signature?
Harvard scientist Avi Loeb points out that this alignment is no simple coincidence. He calculates the statistical likelihood of such a perfect match is smaller than 0.00004, or one in 25,000. Loeb suggests that if this rare alignment materializes, it could be a deliberate “technological signature.” The idea is that an intelligent object might use this specific point in space to deploy smaller probes. “Being at this point, it could release technological devices as artificial satellites of Jupiter,” he proposes, potentially at the stable Lagrange points where minimal fuel is needed to maintain orbit.
What Is The Link To The Comet’s Past Behavior?
This is not the first time 3I/ATLAS has exhibited strange behavior. When it passed near the Sun, astronomers observed it experiencing non-gravitational acceleration—movement that couldn’t be explained by gravity alone. Loeb theorizes that this unexplained push or pull might have been necessary to precisely “achieve this match” with Jupiter’s Hill sphere. If this is true, he states, “the rare coincidence will constitute the most remarkable anomaly of 3I/ATLAS,” shifting the narrative from a quirky rock to a potential engineered object.
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How Will We Know For Sure?
The mystery won’t stay uncertain for long. By March 2026, astronomers will refine the comet’s path and Jupiter’s gravitational sphere. Spacecraft in the Jovian system, like NASA’s Juno or the upcoming JUICE mission, could take close-up observations. These missions may give the key data to show whether 3I/ATLAS is just a strange comet or something far more unusual.
