An interstellar object is passing through our solar system. This UC program says to stay calm and carry on

An interstellar visitor is barreling closer to our sun, giving scientists a rare opportunity to observe an object from outside our celestial backyard.

The comet 3I/ATLAS is just the third known object from outside our solar system to be found passing through. It's expected to reach its closest point to the sun by late October.

The object was first discovered by NASA in July — and its extreme speed and other seemingly unusual characteristics have fueled speculations and caused some to ask: Aliens?

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Cue 'Shadow the Scientists'

Jameeka Marshall at the UC Santa Cruz said that the comet has always stirred people's imagination.

"Could this be something that aliens — another civilization — sent to us? That has been starting a conversation,” Marshall told LAist.

Marshall said she can’t begrudge anything that piques peoples’ interest in science. She runs a program called Shadow the Scientists, where the public can virtually look over the shoulder of astronomers in real time and get the facts.

One of those scientists who you can shadow is Raja GuhaThakurta, faculty director of UC Santa Cruz's department of Creating Equity in STEAM.

For GuhaThakurta, who started the Shadow the Scientists program in 2020, the hysteria around the alien spaceship — or artifact — theory is not only misguided.

“This kind of sensationalism ends up ultimately... causing people to lose faith in more serious, evidence-based research and science. Not just in astronomy, this happens in every field,” he said.

Part of program's goal, he said, is to demystify that evidence-based, scientific research, by allowing people to watch it unfold in real-time.

For one, as the comet gets closer to our sun, more of its material will turn into gas, allowing scientists to study its composition.

“When we have interstellar comets and asteroids, then they’re telling us about the chemical composition of things beyond the solar system,” GuhaThakurta said.

The interstellar comet won’t be visible to the naked eye, but if you’d like to learn more straight from the experts, Shadow the Scientists will cover 3I/ATLAS topics at upcoming sessions on September 25 and again in late November.

Register for those events at the group's website here.