Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has calculated the possible target of interstellar object 3I/ATLAS. This is what he is talking about wrote on the Medium platform.
3I/ATLAS entered the solar system several months ago and passed 270 million kilometers from Earth on December 19. Most experts consider it an interstellar comet. Avi Loeb does not rule out the possibility that this object is of artificial origin and is a giant alien ship.
Loeb's calculations show that 3I/ATLAS will approach Jupiter's moon Eupheme on March 17. The distance between them will be just 30.46 million km. This is the closest approach that can be achieved to one of the objects in the solar system.
Organized structure discovered in new images of 3I/ATLAS object
The day before, 3I/ATLAS will pass Jupiter at a distance of 53.445 million km. In November, Loeb noted that this number was barely different from the so-called Hill sphere – the distance at which the planet's gravity exceeds that of the Sun. It is at this distance that the spacecraft intending to launch the satellite must be positioned and the satellite must be in the orbit of the planet.
The existence of Eupheme became known in 2003. The diameter of this object is about two kilometers.
In August, senior researcher at the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics SB RAS, professor at Irkutsk State University Sergei Yazev said 3I/ATLAS is not an alien spacecraft.
