"But how? A radio signal? That would have to confirm the object is technlogical in nature, wouldn't it? The thing is, this isn't a radio signal like a transmission emitted by a spacecraft. It's instead a radio frequency pattern detected by MeerKAT, a radio telescope composed of 64 antennas-each with a diameter of 13.5 meters-operated by the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory. And what did it detect? "OH absorption was detected on the 1665 MHz and 1667 MHz lines," according to the researchers."
"What MeerKAT specifically detected were lines of radio absorption by hydroxyl radicals, that is, OH molecules, a pattern that would be consistent with typical comet activity. The lines appear as absorption because 3I/Atlas was very close to the sun and the observing geometry favors absorption over emission. This is the phenomenon explained in WIRED a few days ago when the controversy about non-gravitational acceleration arose:"
MeerKAT detected radio-frequency absorption lines from interstellar object 3I/Atlas consistent with cometary outgassing. The telescope observed OH (hydroxyl radical) absorption on the 1665 MHz and 1667 MHz lines. The absorption appears because 3I/Atlas was near the Sun and the observing geometry favored absorption over emission. Solar heating causes cometary ices to sublimate, producing OH radicals that absorb or emit at characteristic radio frequencies. OH spectral lines are commonly observed in comets, nebulae, and star-forming regions and trace water-related chemistry. The detection supports a natural, cometary explanation rather than a technological source.
Read at WIRED
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