3I/ATLAS could be a regular, boring old comet that acts a little stranger than usual. Or, if the dreamers are to be believed, it could be an alien vessel of some kind. But what if it’s something else, like a planet-making seed?
Believe it or not, there are theories in between complete sci-fi madness and NASA’s ultra-rationalizations. A new one that suggests this space rock is coming from deep interstellar space, blowing through our inner solar system, acting as an accidental key ingredient in the formation of new planets.
Previous, more out-there theories, often proposed by Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, include this mysterious object being an alien ship that is sending out probes. While current prevailing theories that are a bit more grounded in caution say that 3I/ATLAS is probably just a comet that has some weird, previously unobserved quirks.
Some, like Loeb, and now astrophysicist Susanne Pfalzner, are coming up with alternative theories. Pfalzner’s sounds a little wild on the surface, but actually might be a bit more reasonable than it seems.
Is This Interstellar Object Actually a Galaxy-Hopping Planet Seed?
At a planetary science conference in Germany, Pfalzner suggested that objects like 3I/ATLAS might be jump-starting the birth of planets, specifically gas giants like Jupiter. Pfalzner’s theory is based on the standard theory of planet formation, known as accretion, which posits that tiny particles stick together and gradually coalesce into planets.
But simulations show these particles tend to bounce off each other or shatter. So how do big planets show up so early around young stars?
Pfalzner thinks interstellar objects might be the missing ingredient. As Space.com explains, these objects, formed in other star systems and flung into the void, can get captured by the gravity of young stars. They get embedded into their swirling disks of dust and gas. Once inside, they act like seeds for planet formation, helping fast-track the process.
In Pfalzner’s theory, 3I/ATLAS, and space rocks like it. It might be the dry active yeast that brings life to what would otherwise be a lifeless pale, goopy wad of bread dough. Her models suggest that stars bigger than our Sun are especially good at snagging these interstellar travelers.
And, would you look at that—giant planets are more common around those stars. Meanwhile, cooler stars (so-called M dwarfs) aren’t as lucky. They are left a fridge full of condiments, but no main ingredient to bring it all together.
In her press release statement, Pfalzner said, “Higher-mass stars are more efficient in capturing interstellar objects in their discs. Therefore, interstellar object-seeded planet formation should be more efficient around these stars, providing a fast way to form giant planets. And, their fast formation is exactly what we have observed.”
There are some wild and wacky theories about 3I/ATLAS circulating online. A lot of it is just funny theorizing. When you don’t know what something is floating out there in space, it’s best to think of all scenarios, even the more sci-fi ones, just in case.
But some theories, like Pfalzner’s, are particularly fascinating as they provide not sci-fi madness but an alternative and ultimately quite believable take on how planets, and by extension the solar system they live in, are formed.
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