NASA to release best-quality images of Manhattan-sized interstellar object 3I/ATLAS — and reveal its true nature

NASA is set to release the much-anticipated images of the Manhattan-sized interstellar object 3I/ATLAS within days, an agency source told The Post.

The snaps of the mysterious object were taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s HiRISE camera as it passed by the Red Planet from Oct.1 to Oct. 7 were not released because of the government shutdown, which ended late Wednesday.

The source said the release of the snaps — expected to be the highest resolution of any image of 3I/ATLAS yet — come come as early as next week.

New images of 3I/ATLAS released earlier this week in the Astronomer’s Telegram showed. David Jewitt / Jane Luu / The Astronomer's Telegram

Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, who has conjectured that the object could potentially be an alien spaceship, panned the long-delayed release as a symptom of government inefficiency. 

“Science should have been prioritized over bureaucracy,” Loeb told The Post. “The truth about the nature of 3I/ATLAS will be revealed by the sharing of data, not by the storyline of gatekeepers.”

The HiRISE camera images will be the clearest yet, surpassing the snaps taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on July 21, which to date have provided the most stark pictures of 3I/ATLAS.

Loeb stated that the HiRISE images will present one of the best opportunities to learn about the nucleus of the massive object, which will reveal its true nature.

Loeb has previously sounded the alarm over the mysterious anti-tail of 3I/ATLAS, which is a unique extension in the direction of the Sun, and not seen in normal, everyday comets.

The new images set to be released by NASA in a “matter of days” will be the best of the object taken during its pass through our inner solar system. David Jewitt / Jane Luu / The Astronomer's Telegram

“The HiRISE image would give us a side-view as well as a spatial resolution that is three times better than that of the Hubble Space Telescope,” he said.

“Even though the image is unlikely to resolve the solid nucleus itself, it can set a tight constraint on its diameter based on the brightest pixel,” he said, adding, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

Sky watchers celebrated earlier this week when, after speculation that the object had broken apart, 3I/ATLAS emerged fully intact after its close encounter with the Sun.

The object is now hurtling towards Jupiter where it will be surveilled by NASA’s Juno space probe and the European Space Agency’s JUICE spacecraft until it exits our solar system on in March.