Interstellar Visitor with Carbonated Breath ⚡ экспресс
In mid-August 2025, joint spectrophotometric observations of the interstellar object 3I ATLAS were conducted using SPHEREx (0.75–5.0 µm) and NASA IRTF SpeX (0.7–2.5 µm). The combined spectrum shows dominant water ice absorption bands and CO₂ emission. The CO₂ gas cloud with a radius of about 3 arcminutes is confidently resolved, corresponding to a gas production rate Q(CO₂) = 9.4×10²⁶ molecules/s. Conservative upper limits have been set on the production rates of H₂O (1.5×10²⁶ molecules/s) and CO (2.8×10²⁶ molecules/s). Assuming a nucleus albedo of 0.04 and that the entire flux at 1 µm is scattered light, the formal nucleus radius would be 23 km; however, comparison with the nucleus size limit rₙ < 2.8 km (Jewitt et al. 2025) shows that over 99% of the continuous flux from SPHEREx is due to dust in the coma. This points to an extremely small true nucleus and highlights that size estimates of interstellar bodies based on direct emission can be significantly overestimated without accounting for the contribution of the dust component.
The interstellar object 3I ATLAS is like an opened bottle of soda: it continuously releases carbon dioxide, wrapping itself in a thick cloud. The SPHEREx telescope split its light into a rainbow — a method called spectroscopy — and spotted the telltale signs of gas and water ice, which absorbs some of the light like tinted glass.
The cloud turned out to be perfectly round, without tails or jets. Precise brightness measurements showed that the gas is so abundant it completely hides the nucleus. Over 99% of the light comes from cosmic dust, not from the body itself. The actual nucleus — a solid chunk no larger than three kilometers across — is lost inside this shimmering shell, like a pea in a cloud of steam. Amazingly, this is only the third such wanderer spotted by humanity.
🎯 This object is only the third known interstellar visitor after ‘Oumuamua and Comet Borisov.
🎬 The storyline echoes Arthur C. Clarke's 'Rendezvous with Rama': a mysterious object from interstellar space that challenges science.