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Is Atlas, Atlas three eye at was slowing down
Executive summary
Available reporting shows 3I/ATLAS is an interstellar comet that passed perihelion on 29–30 October 2025 and has been observed moving away from the Sun at high speed; mainstream agencies describe it as “speeding away” rather than deliberately slowing (ESA; NASA reporting) [1] [2]. Some commentators and a few outlets have highlighted claims or data suggesting apparent deceleration or anomalous velocity measurements, but also note measurement challenges and alternative explanations such as tracking errors or cometary forces (WION, Live Science) [3] [2].
1. What mainstream agencies report: 3I/ATLAS is speeding away
European Space Agency pages and multiple news outlets describe 3I/ATLAS as having made perihelion on 29 October 2025 and then “speeding away from the centre of the Solar System,” with ESA and mission teams turning Mars and Jupiter probes to observe it as it recedes — language that frames the object as continuing on an outbound, high-velocity trajectory rather than showing a controlled slowdown [1] [4].
2. Numbers and context: how fast and why that matters
Published coverage gives ballpark velocities and distances: early reporting noted speeds on the order of hundreds of thousands of kilometres per hour (figures reported around ~130,000–219,000 km/h or similar conversions in different outlets), and closest approach distances inside Mars’s orbit near the end of October 2025 [5] [4]. These are consistent with an object on a hyperbolic, unbound path — by definition not captured into a bound solar orbit — so even measured small deviations matter a great deal to astronomers studying forces acting on the body [5].
3. Claims of deceleration: what critics and commentators say
Several news items and opinion pieces raise the possibility that the comet’s measured velocity shows a slowing or anomalous change. WION summarized arguments that apparent deceleration “might result from tracking inconsistencies,” pointing to the object’s faintness, varying brightness and heterogeneous ground-based calibrations as plausible sources of error [3]. Advocates for closer scrutiny (including prominent individuals quoted in other coverage) frame any real slowdown as potentially indicating unusual physics or activity — but those are speculative in the reporting [3].
4. Why measurements can look inconsistent: observational pitfalls
Available reporting emphasizes real observational challenges: 3I/ATLAS was faint, often close to the Sun in the sky (solar elongation under 30° for a period), sometimes behind the Sun from Earth’s view, and observed by an assortment of telescopes and spacecraft with different instruments and calibration regimes [6] [1]. Those factors increase the chance that independent velocity estimates differ; outlets note that small timing or calibration offsets can produce the appearance of deceleration when none exists [3] [6].
5. What mission data and official releases say about the object’s nature
NASA and ESA releases and coverage stressed that 3I/ATLAS is a cometary object and highlighted coordinated observations (Hubble, JWST, Mars orbiters, Juice attempts) to pin down trajectory and composition; NASA scientists reminded audiences the object is “zooming along” rapidly and that agency imagery and spectroscopy are being used to refine its path rather than support exotic claims [2] [1] [4].
6. Alternative viewpoints and fringe interpretations
Some commentators and opinion pieces (including individual scientists speaking publicly) have explored more provocative interpretations: mechanical control, odd torques from asymmetric outgassing, or structural responses to solar radiation. Those accounts are explicitly speculative in the sources and often paired with caveats that measurement error is a simpler explanation [3] [7]. Mainstream outlets and mission teams have not endorsed engineered or “alien” explanations in their reporting [2].
7. Bottom line for a reader: plausible, testable explanations
Current, mainstream reporting shows (a) the comet passed perihelion and is moving outward, (b) velocity estimates have some scatter, and (c) measurement error or natural cometary forces (outgassing, radiation pressure, observational geometry) are the leading, documented reasons for apparent anomalies; claims of deliberate slowdown are raised in some outlets but remain unproven and contested in the same reporting [1] [3] [2].
8. What to watch next
Follow official trajectory refinements from agencies using coordinated spacecraft observations (ESA Juice, Mars orbiters, Hubble, JWST) and published orbital solutions or peer-reviewed analyses; those will be the decisive records for confirming whether any genuine non-gravitational deceleration exists or whether earlier discrepancies were measurement artefacts — current coverage emphasizes ongoing observation campaigns rather than a concluded finding [1] [2] [4].
Limitations: available sources do not present a single, peer-reviewed velocity time series proving a purposeful slowdown; instead, reporting contrasts official statements that the comet is “speeding away” with separate pieces raising questions about apparent deceleration and potential measurement issues [1] [3].