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Astronomy Vibes

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☄️ Einstein Was Right — But Nobody Expected This From 3I/ATLAS 😳 For the first time, an interstellar visitor proved Einstein’s theory in action — as the Sun’s gravity bent its light like a cosmic magnifying glass. Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb just shared new insights about our latest interstellar object — 3I/ATLAS, the third visitor from another star system after ‘Oumuamua (2017) and Borisov (2019). When 3I/ATLAS passed closest to the Sun (perihelion) in September 2025, it came so near that the Sun’s gravity actually bent the light coming from it — an effect called gravitational lensing. This natural “magnifying glass” gave astronomers a rare chance to study an object from another star system in unprecedented detail. Loeb explains that this was the first time an interstellar object was lensed by our Sun — something predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity. As 3I/ATLAS moved behind the Sun (from Earth’s viewpoint), sunlight curved around it, briefly amplifying its brightness. This allowed telescopes like JWST and Hubble to gather more precise data about its shape, composition, and origin. Why is this important? Because lensing gave scientists a kind of cosmic zoom effect, helping them test theories about what interstellar objects are made of — and whether some could even be artificial (a possibility Loeb keeps open). In simple words, the Sun acted like a giant telescope lens — bending light and helping us peek deeper into the mystery of this visitor from another world. 🔭✨ #3IATLAS #3Iアトラス #interstellarobject

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Astronomy Vibes

@AstronomyVibes

Source: Avi Loeb, “Gravitational Lensing of 3I/ATLAS by the Sun”, Medium (Nov 1, 2025) 🔗 Read Original Article: <a target="_blank" href="https://avi-loeb.medium.com/gravitational-lensing-of-3i-atlas-by-the-sun-f4ca18720d65" color="blue">avi-loeb.medium.com/gravitational-…</a>