3I/ATLAS Faced the Sun and Survived - How Is It Possible? - video Dailymotion

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Comet 3I/ATLAS flew straight toward the Sun, took a blast of brutal heat and radiation that should have torn it apart, and somehow came out the other side still intact, leaving astronomers completely stunned. Most comets disintegrate long before they get this close, but ATLAS held together thanks to its unusual chemistry, dense core, and a super-sturdy structure that didn’t crumble under the Sun’s energy. Scientists think interstellar comets like this one formed in extreme environments around other stars, which might explain why they survive things normal comets can’t. Its survival also gives researchers a rare look at material created outside our solar system, offering clues about planets and stars far beyond our own neighborhood.  Credit: SOHO Celebrates 20 Years of Space-based Science: by Genna Duberstein, Scott Wiessinger, Joe Gurman, Bernard Fleck / Goddard Space Flight Center / NASA https://images.nasa.gov/details/GSFC_20151201_SOHO_m12052_20th Interstellar Visitor: by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14882/ The Path of Comet 2I/Borisov: by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4758/ Alien Composition of 2I/Borisov: by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13582/ Earth Science Sizzle Reel: by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14660/ To Bennu and Back: by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12360/ Animation is created by Bright Side.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV  Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Our Social Media:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightplanet/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

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00:00A large space probe is nearing the Sun. The terrifying heat of the star begins to melt

00:06the shell of the spacecraft. Another moment, and the probe bursts into flames. In no time,

00:12it disintegrates in a powerful explosion. Ah, what a sad ending. If it were true,

00:18it was not a probe, it was a comet known as 3I Atlas. And despite everything people say,

00:25it's still intact and thriving. The thing is, there is a rumor online saying that comet 3I Atlas

00:32exploded when it got closest to the Sun. But astronomers say this is not true. There was

00:38no explosion. And the comet's nucleus still looks whole and undamaged. Which is kinda surprising,

00:45since comets that pass very close to the Sun usually go through some serious changes.

00:50You see, comets are made of a mix of ice, dust, and rocky material. Which is why they're often

00:57called dirty snowballs. So, when they come close to the Sun, the intense heat from our star makes

01:03their ice turn into gas. This new gas can burst out in huge jets, form a cloud around the comet

01:09called a coma, and or be pushed away into a long tail. Sunlight makes all of these parts shine more

01:16brightly. And even people with small or simple telescopes can study the comet if the viewing

01:22conditions are good. But aside from being a breathtaking view, such a close approach can

01:27break off pieces of a comet or even tear its whole nucleus apart. Now, it's true that some comets

01:34survive this process. But many, especially small ones, or comets entering the inner solar system for the

01:41first time, break into pieces, or disappear completely. Well, 3i Atlas acted differently.

01:48So there. It reached its closest point to the Sun on October 29, 2025. This point is called the

01:55Perhelion. At that moment, the comet was about 130 million miles from the Sun. That's about 1.5 times

02:02the distance between the Sun and our planet. The comet was also on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth.

02:08So the star was blocking it from our view, and we couldn't see the comet.

02:13Anyway, even though 3i Atlas could hypothetically break apart or release lots of fragments,

02:19it didn't. The nucleus stayed intact. And this made the comet's behavior even more unusual

02:26and interesting to scientists. They looked closely at the new photos and said everything looked normal.

02:33Interestingly, the day before, some people thought the comet had broken into pieces

02:38after it came out from behind the far side of the Sun. This idea became popular after a blog post said

02:44the comet had lost a lot of mass. So to make this claim, the blog used photos taken on November 9 by

02:52two small telescopes in Spain. The pictures show jets of gas coming out of the comet. The scientists used

02:58this to estimate how much material was coming off the comet, claiming that it should have broken into

03:04at least 16 pieces. However, many scientists have questioned this statement. Most researchers say

03:11there's no proof that the comet exploded. One scientist who studies the comet says that all

03:16the images he had seen showed a completely normal, healthy comet. There's no sign that the main body of

03:22the comet has broken apart. Still, now that the comet is coming back into view, astronomers are watching it

03:29very carefully. They want to learn more about the comet's materials and structure. Right now,

03:35if you look at it from Earth, the comet seems to be slowly moving higher in the eastern sky. If the

03:42weather is good, people in many parts of the northern hemisphere can see it with a small telescope,

03:47like this one with a 6-inch lens. And many do pay attention to the comet. Since it was discovered in

03:53July, it has become the center of many curious ideas. Some people are sure that the comet, which comes

04:00from outside our solar system and might be more than 7 billion years old, could be a probe sent by

04:06a different civilization. Most astronomers strongly disagree, of course. They believe the comet is

04:13completely natural and comes from another star system, somewhere in the Milky Way. And this is actually

04:19exciting. Comet 3I Atlas is only the third interstellar comet ever seen, and it is the

04:26largest one of its kind. Before, it was Comet 2I Borisov that passed through in 2019, and Oumuamua,

04:34a weird elongated object that appeared in 2017. But 3I Atlas, with its up to 3.5-mile nucleus, dwarfs Oumuamua,

04:44which was just a quarter-mile long, and Borisov, which is about three-tenths of a mile across.

04:50Plus, 3I Atlas may be the oldest comet humans have ever observed. Oumuamua is much younger,

04:57around one billion years old. It came from the galaxy's thin disk, where new stars are still

05:03being born. It was the first known object from another star system to pass through our solar

05:08system. Basically, our first interstellar guest. It was super-stretched out, about 10 times longer

05:15than it was wide, unlike anything else we've spotted in space. As for 2I Borisov, it sits in

05:22between, at roughly 1.7 billion years old. It also came from the thin disk. It was the first confirmed

05:29comet to come from another star system. And it gave scientists a super-rare peek at what materials

05:35beyond our solar system were made of. Unlike the first interstellar visitor, Oumuamua,

05:41which looked more like an asteroid, Borisov behaved like a classic comet. It had a bright coma,

05:47a temporary fuzzy atmosphere of gas and dust forming around the comet's nucleus as it approaches the sun.

05:54Plus, it also had a long tail of dust and gas. Now, 2I Borisov is speeding away from the sun and will

06:02never return. But it allowed scientists to take a glimpse into the chemistry and history of distant

06:08worlds. Now, let's get back to comet 3I Atlas. It will pass closest to Earth on December 19th.

06:15Until then, scientists will make many more observations. People will also make many new

06:20claims about the comet, that's for sure. But it's best to be cautious and not believe everything

06:26immediately. By the way, even though you can't see this famous comet with your own eyes or with a

06:31regular telescope, hey, that's good news! A powerful telescope in Italy is streaming it live for free!

06:39So anyone can actually watch this mysterious object as it passes by.

06:44Scientists think this comet weighs about 33 billion tons. That's a big number. How about we make a few

06:51comparisons? The Eiffel Tower weighs around 10,000 tons. So 33 billion tons is the same as 3.3 million

07:00Eiffel Towers. And if you decide to compare the space visitor to buildings, well, 33 billion tons is

07:07about the same as the weight of several huge city areas made entirely of steel and concrete.

07:143I Atlas was first noticed in July by NASA's Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Last Alert

07:20system, which, if you're paying attention, is where they got the nickname Atlas.

07:25Shortly after, NASA confirmed that the object wasn't from our solar system at all.

07:30Now, besides being huge, 3I Atlas is unusual in several other ways.

07:35As it moves through the solar system, it's releasing massive amounts of carbon dioxide and dust.

07:41So this suggests that 3I Atlas is 3 to 5 orders of magnitude, which means 1,000 to 100,000 times more

07:50massive than the two other known interstellar visitors. Such an enormous difference is a real

07:55scientific mystery. It's also traveling incredibly fast – about 150,000 miles per hour, which is

08:02almost 200 times the speed of sound. Hey, that will get you a speeding ticket! And unlike objects in our

08:09solar system, which follow curved paths because of gravity, 3I Atlas is moving on a nearly straight line.

08:16That alone makes it stand out. Now that the comet has moved past the Sun,

08:22telescopes on Earth can see it again. Comet 3I Atlas is important to us because it's only the third

08:28interstellar visitor we've ever seen, and it may be the biggest and oldest one yet. And it didn't

08:34break apart near the Sun like some other comets. By studying it, scientists can learn what materials

08:40exist in other star systems and better understand how comets – and even planets – form in our galaxy.

08:49That's it for today! So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share

08:55it with your friends. Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!

3I/ATLAS Faced the Sun and Survived - How Is It Possible?

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