Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS proved Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity right — here’s how

Dubbed as 3I/ATLAS, an interstellar comet has occupied the centre stage for quite some time. 3I/ATLAS, which originated outside our solar system, has now reportedly confirmed one of Albert Einstein's theories. A report published by Daily Mail claimed that the scans of 3I/ATLAS as it reached its closest point to the sun discovered that our home star's gravity bent the light coming from the mysterious object, just as Einstein had predicted back in 1915 in his theory of general relativity.

The report further noted that this effect, also called gravitational lensing, was caused by a little shift in the object's apparent position in the sky, which scientists had predicted last month would be approximately 0.27 arcseconds.

Expert’s take

“The related data was obtained by the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), which indicated that 3I/ATLAS was 4 arcseconds away in Right Ascension from where it was supposed to be near perihelion according to its forecasted trajectory. The gravitational lensing by the Sun amounts to a small fraction of the reported deviation," Harvard physicist Avi Loeb wrote in a paper.

“Observations of 3I/ATLAS close to perihelion by the solar observatories STEREO, SOHO and GOES-19, revealed unprecedented brightening and a color bluer than the sun,” Loeb further added. Loeb also pointed out that its gas plume contains 4% water by mass.

The closest approach

EarthSky had claimed that the comet appeared within about 126 million miles (203 million kilometers) of the sun and made its closest approach on 29 October. It also stated that the object will be visible to telescope users sometime around 11 November.

As per the European Space Agency, the comet will make its closest approach to Earth on 19 December. It is expected to come within about 270 million kilometers.

FAQs

When will the comet make its closest approach to the Earth?

The comet is expected to make its closest approach to the Earth on 19 December.

When did it make its closest approach to the Sun?

3I/ATLAS made its closest approach to the Sun on 29 October.