The SETI Institute, based in Northern California, has announced that its extensive radio scans have found no evidence of alien technology in the interstellar comet 3I/Atlas. This comet, discovered last summer, is the third known object from another star to enter our solar system, and scientists have confirmed it is of natural origin.

Comet’s Journey and Observations

3I/Atlas was observed by several NASA spacecraft as it passed Mars last October, coming within 19 million miles of the planet. The closest approach to Earth occurred in December, at a distance of 167 million miles. The comet is estimated to be between 1,444 feet and 3.5 miles in size and could be as old as 11 billion years.

SETI conducted over seven hours of radio observations in July, shortly after the comet’s discovery. The team analyzed nearly 74 million narrow-band radio signals, ultimately determining that only slightly more than 200 signals were not of human origin. However, these were traced back to technology on Earth or Earth-orbiting satellites.

Implications for Future Searches

Valeria Garcia Lopez of Furman University, a co-author of the study, emphasized the importance of continuing to search for technosignatures, even from unexpected sources. SETI’s Sofia Sheikh, the lead author, noted that NASA’s Voyager spacecraft will eventually become interstellar objects in other star systems, providing a proof of concept for the existence of interstellar technological objects.

The findings were published in the Astronomical Journal, highlighting the capabilities of current technology to detect potential signals from space. As 3I/Atlas continues its journey back to interstellar space, the scientific community remains vigilant in its search for signs of extraterrestrial life.

Original reporting: NBC4 Los Angeles — read the source article.