Are the Three Mini-Jets, Coming Out of 3I/ATLAS at 120 Degree Separation, a Technological Signature?
Shortly after its perihelion passage on October 29, 2025, the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS was imaged by amateur astronomers to have multiple jets coming out of it (as I discussed here).
The jet structure is best revealed in projected images by applying the Larson-Sekanina Rotational Gradient filter that removes the circularly symmetric glowing halo around the nucleus of 3I/ATLAS.
Applying this filter to 6 images of 3I/ATLAS taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on January 14, 2026 (available here), revealed a symmetric system of 3 mini-jets out to 25,000 kilometers. The 3 mini-jets are separated by 120 degrees from each other in sky projection, and are supplemented by a 4th anti-tail jet extending 10 times farther in the sunward direction.
The 3 symmetric jets appear persistently in the Larson-Sekanina filtering of 24 other images taken by the Hubble Space Telescopes on November 30, December 4, 12, 27, 2025 and January 7, 14, 2026 (as listed here).
Analysis of these images was presented in a new paper that I co-authored with Toni Scarmato , which was posted today here. It demonstrates that the jet structure around 3I/ATLAS wobbles periodically by +/-20 degrees over a period of 7.1 hours. The wobble is likely the result of rotation, with each jet behaving like a misaligned beam from a rotating lighthouse. The rotation axis is oriented surprisingly close (within 10–20 degrees) to the sunward direction, as already inferred back in August 2025 (and reported here).
In another paper that I co-authored with Mauro Barbieri last week (available here), we had shown that on January 22, 2026, the observing direction of 3I/ATLAS from Earth will align to within 0.69 degrees with the anti-sunward direction. During that rare alignment, the rotating configuration of 3 mini-jets might trace a circle in the sky.
My brilliant colleague, Dr. Frank Laukien, noted: “The symmetric 120-degrees angular spacing between the 3 mini-jets is astounding! It is hard to imagine such a symmetry in a natural macroscopic object. A key question is: are three symmetric mini-jets the minimum viable configuration of propulsion devices to re-orient an object in three-dimensional space? Human-made satellite thrusters usually come in pairs on opposing directions. Could the mini-jet geometric arrangement be an indication of active technology? For orthogonal thruster systems, one would need 6 thrusters, with two opposing thrusters along each of the three orthogonal spatial directions. If 3I/ATLAS rotates around its major axis every 7.1 hours or so, then thrusters in the direction of the major axis would not be very useful, and perhaps just (3+1)=4 thrusters in the plane orthogonal to the major rotation axis are sufficient for some sort of technical manipulation like attitude adjustments?”
Indeed, we observe a system of 3 symmetric mini-jets plus 1 major jet. Additional data might help to address Frank’s question. The symmetric jet structure is just one out of 18 anomalies of 3I/ATLAS, as listed here. Identifying one of them as a clear technological signature would boost the rank of 3I/ATLAS high on the Loeb Classification Scale, formulated here, here and here.
Scientific work requires patience, since new knowledge comes one day at a time. Life brings joy when each day teaches us something new. My morning jog at sunrise today was decorated by symmetric fresh snowflakes. There is nothing more invigorating than the beauty of symmetry in nature, both on Earth and in the sky.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Avi Loeb is the head of the Galileo Project, founding director of Harvard University’s — Black Hole Initiative, director of the Institute for Theory and Computation at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and the former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University (2011–2020). He is a former member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and a former chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies. He is the bestselling author of “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” and a co-author of the textbook “Life in the Cosmos”, both published in 2021. The paperback edition of his new book, titled “Interstellar”, was published in August 2024.
