Research ArticleOpen AccessGoogle Scholar indexed
Comet 3I/Atlas and Our Links with the Wider Cosmos
Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology, University of Buckingham, Buckingham, UK
Institute for the Study of Panspermia and Astroeconomics, Gifu, Japan
Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology, University of Buckingham, Buckingham, UK
Centre for Astrobiology, University of Ruhuna, Matara, Sri Lanka
National Institute of Fundamental Studies, Kandy, Sri Lanka
- 1 Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology, University of Buckingham, Buckingham, UK
- 2 Institute for the Study of Panspermia and Astroeconomics, Gifu, Japan
- 3 Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology, University of Buckingham, Buckingham, UK
- 4 Centre for Astrobiology, University of Ruhuna, Matara, Sri Lanka
- 5 National Institute of Fundamental Studies, Kandy, Sri Lanka
International Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics·Volume 15 (2025)·Pages 390–398·Published 30 October 2025·DOI10.4236/ijaa.2025.154024
Copy link · social · email
Abstract
Comet 3I/Atlas shows all the signs of being a comet escaping from a distant planetary system, probably from above the disc of the galaxy, and traversing through the inner solar system. The emitted dust coma and tail could carry genetic material that may possibly soft-land through the terrestrial atmosphere and thus potentially contribute to the evolution of life on Earth and thence in the wider planetary system.
KeywordsCometsHyperbolic CometsPanspermiaEvolution
- Bohlin, B.T., et al. (2025) Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS: Discovery and Physical Description. arXiv: 2507.05252. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2507.05252
- Wickramasinghe, N.C., Wickramasinghe, D.T. and Steele, E.J. (2019) Ouamuamua (A/2017U1), Panspermia, and Intelligent Life in the Universe. Advances in Astro physics , 4, 121-1270 https://doi.org/10.22606/adap.2019.43005
- Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C. (2000) Astronomical Origins of Life: Steps towards Panspermia. Kluwer Academic Press.
- Kopparapu, R.K. (2013) A Revised Estimate of the Occurrence Rate of Terrestrial Planets in the Habitable Zones around Kepler M-Dwarfs. The Astrophysical Journal , 767, L8. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/767/1/l8
- Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, C. (1981) Comets—A Vehicle for Panspermia. In: Ponnamperuma, C., Ed., Comets and the Origin of Life , Springer, 227-239. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-8528-5_15
- Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C. (1985) Living Comets. University College Car-diff Press.
- Hopkins, M.J., Dorsey, R.C., Forbes, J.C., Bannister, M.T., Lintott, C.J. and Leicester, B. (2025) From a Different Star: 3I/ATLAS in the Context of the Ōtautahi-Oxford Interstellar Object Population Model. The Astrophysical Journal Letters , 990, L30. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/adfbf4
- Wallis, M.K. and Wickramasinghe, N.C. (2004) Interstellar Transfer of Planetary Microbiota. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , 348, 52-61. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07355.x
- Wickramasinghe, N.C., Wallis, J. and Wallis, D.H. (2013) Panspermia: Evidence from Astronomy to Meteorites. Modern Physics Letters A , 28, Article ID: 1330009. https://doi.org/10.1142/s0217732313300097
- Wickramasinghe, N.C., Hoyle, F. and LLoyd, D. (1996) Eruptions of Comet Hale-Bopp at 6.5 Au. Astrophysics and Space Science , 240, 161-165. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00640204
- Wickramasinghe, J., Wickramasinghe, C. and Napier, W. (2009) Comets and the Origin of Life. World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789812814005
- Wickramasinghe, D.T. and Allen, D.A. (1986) Discovery of Organic Grains in Comet Halley. Nature , 323, 44-46. https://doi.org/10.1038/323044a0
- Wickramasinghe, N.C., Wainwright, M., Smith, W.E., Tokoro, G., Al-Mufti, S. and Wallis, M.K. (2015) Rosetta Studies of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko: Prospects for Establishing Cometary Biology. In: Wickramasinghe, N.C., Ed., Vindication of Cosmic Biology , World Scientific, 671-684. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814675260_0061