Questions

Research questions are the building block of our platform of scientific inquiry. Key questions are the ones at the heart of a mystery; every other question helps answer one of them.

10questions0answered0with no evidence yet

All mysteries

3I/ATLAS6 key questions · 10 questions · 0 answered

Open the mystery

QuestionWhere it stands

KeyHow big is the nucleus of 3I/ATLAS?

Open2 answers, none ahead

KeyIs 3I/ATLAS a natural comet or a technological object?

Open2 answers, none ahead

KeyWhat is 3I/ATLAS made of, and why is its chemistry so unlike a Solar System comet's?

Open2 answers, none ahead

What kind of dust gives 3I/ATLAS its unusually deep negative polarisation?

Open1 answer, none ahead

Why did nickel vapour appear around 3I/ATLAS without iron, so far from the Sun?

Open2 answers, none ahead

KeyWhat pushes 3I/ATLAS off a purely gravitational path?

Open2 answers, none ahead

Which gas carries the push: carbon dioxide, water or carbon monoxide?

Open2 answers, none ahead

KeyWhere in the Galaxy, and how long ago, did 3I/ATLAS form?

Open2 answers, none ahead

KeyWhy did 3I/ATLAS's activity and chemistry change so much across perihelion?

Open1 answer, none ahead

How much water did 3I/ATLAS release at its peak after perihelion?

Open2 answers, none ahead