The Uncomfortable Convergence: Solar System Mysteries and the 3I/Atlas Enigma
- John Adams
- 45 minutes ago
- 7 min read
In less than a decade, the Solar System has gone from zero confirmed interstellar objects inside it to what we might call a small menagerie of wanderers. First there was Oumuamua, followed by 2I/Borisov, interstellar meteor candidates IM1 and IM2, and now 3I/Atlas, which have formed a small but diverse dataset. If we add the curious case of 2015 Bz509, or Kaʻepaokaʻawela, which may be a long-term captured visitor, then suddenly the Solar System seem less like isolated space and more like a busy crossroads.
A Strange Season of Interstellar Visitors
This is not a simple case of mere perception. Science has now logged a historically high number of comets and candidates clustering inside the Inner Solar System. Some are bright and photogenic, others are fragmenting or chemically odd. Together they form a mosaic that have sky observers wondering if this is a statistical result of better instrumentation or a first hint of something stranger.
The Curious Cluster
I decided to create a list of objects within our nearby field - the Inner Solar System - and highlight some of the more interesting objects. If you look closely at the “blue” and bottom‑listed objects in recent catalogs a pattern emerges. They share features that set them apart from the textbook comets of old:
Hyperbolic or nearly hyperbolic paths: 3I/ATLAS, C/2025 V1 (Borisov), and C/2022 R6 (PANSTARRS) each push the boundary between bound and unbound motion.
Retrograde or highly inclined orbits: 333P/LINEAR’s retrograde trajectory and C/2025 A6 (Lemmon)’s steep tilt stand out against the usual direction of movement.
Unusual spectra and color changes: 96P/Machholz’s carbon/cyanogen depletion, C/2025 K1’s green‑to‑gold transition, and 3I/ATLAS’s nickel‑rich composition and recent green-to-gold transition hint at exotic chemistry.
Non‑standard activity levels: 29P’s relentless outbursts, 73P’s catastrophic fragmentation, and 209P’s near‑extinction all defy the “average” cometary script.
Taken together, this cluster feels less random and more a convergence of anomalies — a set of bodies that don’t quite behave the way we expect.
Speculative Interpretations: Probes in Disguise?
Scientists, namely Avi Loeb, have famously speculated that ʻOumuamua" and 3I/Atlas could be artificial objects, perhaps vessels with probes disguised as comets, using outgassing as camouflage, or debris fields deliberately seeded, with fragmentation patterns that mimic natural breakup.
Other than scout-type missions, these possibilities could also come to mind:
Rendezvous points, waiting stations, orbiting encampments, defensive placements, bunkers, and offensive maneuvers. Some or all of these could go undetected, particularly if the technology involved were superior to our own understanding.
Another possibility includes that of neutral involvement, passive observation, sampling missions and harmless information gathering.
Out of curiosity, we turn our lens to the topic using Remote Viewing, however the caveat being that the project was simply meant to understand the significance and meaning of activity, and what it might mean in terms of a potential Planet X or Binary Star discovery (perhaps there was no real significance). In other words, there were no real built-in assumptions.
Blue points → Interstellar or hyperbolic candidates (ʻOumuamua, Borisov, IM1/IM2, 3I/ATLAS, C/2025 V1, C/2022 R6, 2015 BZ509, Kaʻepaokaʻawela).
Red points → Unusual Jupiter‑family comets (29P outbursts, 73P fragmentation, 96P sungrazer, 333P retrograde, 313P main‑belt).
Gray points → Conventional JFCs (e.g., 19P Borrelly, 81P Wild 2, 10P Tempel 2).
Annotations mark major events: fragmentation (73P), outbursts (29P), spacecraft flybys (Deep Space 1 at 19P, Stardust at 81P).
The Significance of 3I Atlas
3I Atlas is a remarkable first because it is an interstellar object, meaning it originated outside our solar system. Its discovery was a milestone, as it provided a rare opportunity to study material from another star system. What makes 3I Atlas particularly interesting is its anomalous activity and apparent composition.
Unlike most comets that show predictable patterns of outgassing and tail formation as they approach the Sun, 3I/Atlas exhibits a potential alloy construction, brightness fluctuations and unexpected jet activity, a forward directional tail and non-gravitational acceleration. The anomalies suggest differences in composition or structure, possibly reflecting the environment of its home system or perhaps design.
The loss of communication with the Maven Mars orbiter after 3I/Atlas passed by and it came back from behind Mars is interesting. It was easy to wonder if something like this might occur. We had already looked into the Phobos II mission, which lost communication not once, but twice including Phobos I.
Project: The Uncomfortable Convergence
Project Sketches
For reference, the list in table form I created:
🌌 Cometary Catalog (objects ≤ 7 AU, Dec 2025–2026)
Comet | Type | Orbit (P, q) | Discovery | Observables / Unique Notes |
3I/ATLAS | Interstellar | N/A, q≈1.36 AU | 2025 – ATLAS | Third interstellar visitor; hyperbolic; rare extrasolar material/high in nickel vs. lead, brightness fluctuations, non-gravitational acceleration, recently turned gold from green (like C/2025 K1 ATLAS. |
C/2025 V1 (Borisov) | Long‑period | N/A, q≈0.46 AU | 2025 – Borisov | Nearly hyperbolic; perihelion Nov 2025; possible interstellar candidate. Unusual trajectory and lack of a visible tail, speculation about its origin and potential non-gravitational propulsion. Nearly perpendicular orbit to that of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS raised questions possible connection. Faint appearance and absence of a tail sparked discussions about composition and nature of its origin. |
C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) | Long‑period | N/A, q≈0.9 AU | 2025 – Lemmon | Non-periodic naked‑eye comet late 2025. Tilted 143.7°, same as Mars but opposite. Closest approach was 21 October 2025. A once in a life-time event. |
C/2025 R2 (SWAN) | Long‑period | N/A, q≈0.6 AU | 2025 – SOHO/SWAN | Bright binocular comet; perihelion Oct 2025; notable for appearing unexpectedly bright and possessing a long gas tail visible in images. Making once-in-many-millennia appearance. |
C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) | Long‑period | N/A, q≈0.7 AU | 2023 – PMO/ATLAS | “Great comet” of 2024; brightest comet since Hale Bopp in 1997; rare 80k year visitor; spectacular dust tail; third object to travel through galaxy from outside, outbound but still observable. |
C/2022 R6 (PANSTARRS) | Long‑period | N/A, q≈4.6 AU | 2022 – Pan‑STARRS | Hyperbolic comet located in the constellation Hydra, not commonly associated with comets. Perihelion 8/2025. |
C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos) | Long‑period | N/A, q≈1.9 AU | 2024 – Wierzchos | Inbound; perihelion Jan 2026; CO2 driven (rare), expected to be ejected from the solar system due to hyperbolic orbit. |
C/2023 X2 (Lemmon) | Long‑period | N/A, q≈5.1 AU | 2023 – Lemmon | Unpredictable brightness and unique ion tail. High mixing ratio of water to carbon monoxide, contains significant amounts of hydrocarbons like ethane and methane. |
C/2025 L1 (ATLAS) | Long‑period | N/A, q≈1.7 AU | 2025 – ATLAS | New inbound near-parabolic comet (highly inclined), perihelion 2026, Naked eye object. |
C/2025 T1 (ATLAS) | Long‑period | N/A, q≈1.1 AU | 2025 – ATLAS | Bright perihelion late 2025. Experienced a rapid increase in brightness from its discovery to around magnitude 10. |
C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) | Long‑period | N/A, q≈2.8 AU | 2025 – ATLAS | Carbon‑depleted; observed fragmented November 11-12; was green and then turned a rare gold post-perihelion (like 3I/Atlas). |
C/2025 L2 (MAPS) | Long‑period | N/A, q≈2.8 AU | 2025 – MAPS | New faint comet; perihelion Dec 20 2025. |
C/2025 R3 (PANSTARRS) | Long‑period | N/A, q≈0.5 AU | 2025 – Pan‑STARRS | Inbound; perihelion Apr 2026; potentially bright; long period, making April 2026 a potentially unique viewing opportunity. |
C/2025 V2 (Rankin) | Long‑period | N/A, q≈1.95 AU | 2025 – Rankin | New comet inbound; nearly isotropic orbit; perihelion Mar 2027; activity begins 2026. |
96P/Machholz | JFC (sungrazer) | P≈5.3 yr, q≈0.12 AU | 1986 – Machholz | Extremely close perihelion; highly eccentric orbit; unusual carbon/cyanogen depletion; possible interstellar object. |
7P/Pons–Winnecke | JFC | P≈6.3 yr, q≈1.26 AU | 1819 – Pons | June Bootids parent; close Earth approaches. |
8P/Tuttle | JFC | P≈13.6 yr, q≈1.03 AU | 1790 – Méchain / 1858 – Tuttle | Contact‑binary nucleus; Ursid meteor parent. |
10P/Tempel 2 | JFC | P≈5.3 yr, q≈1.41 AU | 1873 – Tempel | Large (~10 km); spacecraft target candidate. |
19P/Borrelly | JFC | P≈6.8 yr, q≈1.36 AU | 1904 – Borrelly | Deep Space 1 flyby (2001); “chicken leg” nucleus. |
24P/Schaumasse | JFC | P≈8.2 yr, q≈1.2 AU | 1911 – Schaumasse | Bright periodic comet; perihelion Jan 2026. |
29P/Schwassmann–Wachmann | Centaur/JFC | P≈14.8 yr, q≈5.76 AU | 1927 – Schwassmann/Wachmann | Giant (~60 km); prolific outbursts. |
32P/Comas Solà | JFC | P≈8.8 yr, q≈2.0 AU | 1926 – Comas Solà | Moderate‑sized; ordinary but reliable JFC. |
33P/Daniel | JFC | P≈8.3 yr, q≈2.24 AU | 1909 – Daniel | Ordinary JFC; long observational arc. |
41P/Tuttle–Giacobini–Kresák | JFC | P≈5.4 yr, q≈1.0 AU | 1858 – Tuttle; 1907 – Giacobini; 1951 – Kresák | Known for dramatic outbursts; perihelion near Earth’s orbit. |
47P/Ashbrook–Jackson | JFC | P≈8.3 yr, q≈2.81 AU | 1948 – Ashbrook/Jackson | Mid‑sized JFC. |
65P/Gunn | JFC | P≈7.6 yr, q≈2.93 AU | 1970 – Gunn | Large nucleus (~10 km); WISE IR tail. |
73P/Schwassmann–Wachmann 3 | JFC | P≈5.4 yr, q≈0.94 AU | 1930 – Schwassmann/Wachmann | Catastrophic fragmentation (1995 onward); multiple fragments tracked. |
81P/Wild 2 | JFC | P≈6.4 yr, q≈1.6 AU | 1978 – Wild | Target of NASA’s Stardust mission; samples returned to Earth. |
104P/Kowal | JFC | P≈6.4 yr, q≈4.33 AU | 1979 – Kowal | Small (~2 km); near‑Earth approaches. |
198P/ODAS | JFC | P≈6.8 yr, q≈2.0 AU | 1998 – ODAS | Ordinary JFC. |
209P/LINEAR | JFC | P≈5.0 yr, q≈1.0 AU | 2004 – LINEAR | Extremely low activity; Camelopardalid meteor shower (2014). |
210P/Christensen | JFC | P≈7.7 yr, q≈1.0 AU | 2003 – Christensen | Small; perihelion ~0.5 AU. |
235P/LINEAR | JFC | P≈6.4 yr, q≈1.98 AU | 2002 – LINEAR | Faint, little‑studied JFC. |
240P/NEAT | JFC | P≈7.6 yr, q≈2.12 AU | 2003 – NEAT | Fragmented into A & B. |
261P/Larson | JFC | P≈6.5 yr, q≈2.01 AU | 2008 – Larson | Typical JFC. |
313P/Gibbs | Main‑belt | P≈5.6 yr, q≈2.42 AU | 2014 – Gibbs | Rare main‑belt comet; sublimation in asteroid‑like orbit. |
333P/LINEAR | JFC | P≈8.6 yr, q≈1.11 AU | 2007 – LINEAR | Retrograde orbit (~132° inclination). |
469P/PANSTARRS | JFC | P≈9.1 yr, q≈3.01 AU | 2017 – Pan‑STARRS | Ordinary faint JFC. |
489P/Denning | JFC | P≈9.3 yr, q≈1.56 AU | 1894 – Denning | Historical; recovered later. |
Other objects of note:
A/2019 S3 (PANSTARRS): A non-cometary object on a hyperbolic path that was briefly considered a candidate before further observations suggested it was more likely a Solar System body perturbed by the planets.
CNEOS 2014-01-08 (IM1): A presumed meteor (which we already viewed here) that entered Earth's atmosphere over Papua New Guinea in 2014. In 2022, U.S. Space Command confirmed its velocity was consistent with an interstellar origin. While some scientists remain skeptical due to the classified nature of the data, it is widely cited as the first known interstellar meteor.
CNEOS 2017-03-09 (IM2): Another meteor candidate identified in the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) database with high-velocity characteristics suggestive of an origin outside our solar system.
Potential Captured Objects
2015 BZ509: A co-orbital asteroid of Jupiter that orbits in a retrograde direction. Research published in 2018 suggested it may be a captured interstellar asteroid that has been in our solar system for billions of years. ‘Kaʻepaokaʻāwela’ is the first example of an asteroid in a 1:–1 resonance with any of the planets. This type of resonance had only been studied slightly before the object's discovery.
Project sketches:
Project sessions: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bif0fl1Ae_KwydXxvIK-TRqU1-ZO6jMz?usp=sharing
See these related projects and others:
Report by: John Adams
Date: December 2025
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