“Visitor from elsewhere in the galaxy”: Celebrity physicist Brian Cox slams “drivel” about interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS

There’s been a lot of talk about the unexpected interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS set to make its closest pass by the sun on Thursday (October 30) and not all of it scientifically backed. Now, celebrated physicist Brian Cox has spoken out about what he describes as the online “drivel” regarding the rare space phenomenon.

IN a post to his X (formally known as Twitter) account, Cox said: “Just to be clear - given recent drivel on line - Comet 3I/Atlas is a comet, made of carbon dioxide and water ices and bits of other stuff. It is entirely natural in origin, its orbit is as expected and it will whizz around the sun and then disappear off into the galaxy again.

“If it ever encounters another inhabited solar system in the far future I hope the living things there are more sensible than us and enjoy it for what it is - a visitor from elsewhere in the galaxy - a pristine lump of rock and ices which formed around a distant, maybe long-dead star billions of years ago and many light years away, just passing through. Isn’t that wonderful enough?”

Cox is famous both for his incredible science brain and his musical talent. The professor of particle physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester and the Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science, he is best known as the presenter of science programmes, including BBC Radio 4's The Infinite Monkey Cage and the Wonders of... series.

In his earlier life though, he is famous to many as the keyboard player in dance act D:Ream who enjoyed chart success in the 90s including 1994 hit Things Can Only Get Better. The song was famously adopted by the Labour Party as their theme for the 1997 General Election.

What is interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS?

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope recently took the sharpest-ever picture of the unexpected interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, providing more information about its size and physical properties. What makes this comet so special is the fact it originated in another solar system elsewhere in our Milky Way galaxy with its nucleus estimated to be anywhere between 1,000 feet (320 meters) to 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) in diameter.

Another unique aspect of the comet is its speed. NASA says 3I/ATLAS is traveling through our solar system at a staggering 130,000 miles (209,000 kilometers) per hour, the highest velocity ever recorded for a solar system visitor, picking up speed as it moves through space.

Speaking to NASA, the University of California science team leader for the Hubble observations, David Jewit, said: “No one knows where the comet came from. It’s like glimpsing a rifle bullet for a thousandth of a second. You can't project that back with any accuracy to figure out where it started on its path.”

According to the US space administration, the comet poses no threat to Earth, however research into the space debris forms part of the agency's ongoing mission to find, track, and better understand near-Earth objects.