The SETI Institute has announced that their extensive radio scans of the interstellar comet 3I/Atlas have found no signs of alien technology. This confirmation comes after the comet, discovered last summer, was identified as originating from another star system. Despite some speculation, there was no evidence to suggest it was associated with intelligent life.

Comet’s Journey Through Our Solar System

3I/Atlas is only the third known object from a distant star to enter our solar system, and it was closely observed by several NASA spacecraft as it passed Mars in October. The comet came within 19 million miles of Mars and later approached Earth at a distance of 167 million miles in December.

SETI conducted over seven hours of observations using their Northern California telescope, analyzing nearly 74 million narrow-band radio signals. After eliminating signals caused by human interference or those matching the comet’s movement, only a little over 200 signals remained. All were traced back to technology on Earth or satellites orbiting our planet.

Implications for Future Searches

The findings were published in the Astronomical Journal, with co-author Valeria Garcia Lopez of Furman University emphasizing the importance of continuing the search for technosignatures. SETI’s Sofia Sheikh noted that NASA’s Voyager spacecraft, launched in the 1970s, will eventually become interstellar objects themselves, supporting the idea of technological objects traveling between star systems.

As 3I/Atlas continues its journey back to interstellar space, scientists estimate its size to be between 1,444 feet and 3.5 miles, and it could be as old as 11 billion years, twice the age of our sun.

Original reporting: NBC10 Boston — read the source article.