(09-29-2025, 08:09 AM)Roma Wrote: What is this much larger object following 3I/Atlas?  This is the first time I've heard this.

It's a comet called SWAN. It's 100x larger I think. It's different from ATLAS.

Don't comets sometimes "lose" their tails, which can then be mistaken as a separate second object?

For some reason I thought that has happened before... so, perhaps here?

(09-29-2025, 11:11 AM)KKLoco Wrote: [Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrhgkpN8zyw]

I like that guy, he seems to know what he is talking about. He also kinda looks like a young Woody Harrelson

Nobody seems to be talking about R2 Swann, something far bigger than 3I Atlas, hurtling in from a different direction. Not sure we’ve nailed down the size of it yet, but it might be as large as our moon or larger. FAR bigger than Atlas. Having that Rip through the asteroid belt could make things interesting, or possibly devastating.

Quote:A strange visitor is moving through our solar system, sparking curiosity and debate among astronomers worldwide. This interstellar traveler, officially named 3I/ATLAS, is only the third confirmed object to arrive from beyond our cosmic neighborhood. Its unusual speed, brightness, and composition raise new questions about how material from distant star systems finds its way into ours. Scientists are using powerful telescopes like Hubble and James Webb to track its movements and study what secrets it may hold. Some researchers see it as a natural fragment of ice and dust, while others wonder if it hints at more mysterious origins. Whatever the answer, 3I/ATLAS is rewriting what we thought we knew about the universe and the visitors that occasionally pass through. 0:00 Intro 0:37 The Cosmic Party Crasher 6:20 The Cosmic Spy 12:55 The Dark Comets of the Milky Way 20:46 The Interstellar Invasion No One Noticed 25:54 The Comet That Ghosted Earth

(09-29-2025, 05:10 PM)Maxmars Wrote: Don't comets sometimes "lose" their tails, which can then be mistaken as a separate second object?

For some reason I thought that has happened before... so, perhaps here?

I really don’t think our scientists really know what is going on. All the data is based on math and from simulations. 

My question is do we really know the physics of space! Do we really know our Earth? Our moon is a mystery. 

We have so many questions!

Will we ever get the answers? Never! if our universe is expanding in to space where is it going? 

The only thing I know is our best friend is killing us. We need oxygen to live. Why do apples turn ugly when cut?

Our skin fights oxygen but we wrinkle from it. 

Just my thoughts.

Cue the Nibiru discussions...

I know zilch about space but from what I've read our solar system has entered a denser (more dense?) part of the Milky Way.  What if these objects are common in this neck of the galaxy?

Nibiru....interesting.  I've not heard of anything regarding Nibiru in a long while!!

I am wondering why is it travelling so fast.

"The exceptional size of 3I/ATLAS raises intriguing questions about where it came from and how it formed. Most objects ejected from planetary systems tend to be smaller chunks of rock and ice, similar to the comets we see in our own solar system.For comparison, 3I/ATLAS is similar in size to some of our solar system's most famous comets:

• Halley's Comet: approximately 15 km long and 8 kilometers wide
  
• Comet Hale-Bopp: estimated 40 to 60 kilometers in diameter
  
• 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko: about 4 kilometers
  

Finding an interstellar object this large suggests it came from a planetary system with either very different formation processes than our own, or from a much more violent ejection event that could launch such massive objects into interstellar space."

How Big is 3I/ATLAS? The Massive Interstellar Visitor Revealed | 3I/ATLAS

(Great site BTW with massive amounts of information in one spot)

"While we now know 3I/ATLAS is at least 5 kilometers across, even more precise measurements are coming. On October 3, 2025, when 3I/ATLAS passes within 29 million kilometers of Mars, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will capture the highest resolution images ever taken of an interstellar object.
 
The HiRISE camera will achieve a resolution of about 30 kilometers per pixel, potentially revealing surface features and giving us our first detailed look at the structure of an interstellar visitor. These observations could refine our size estimates and might even show whether 3I/ATLAS has the irregular shape typical of natural comets or something more geometrically precise."

Woo hoo! October 3rd pics.