Exact date interstellar visitor will reveal itself as 'alien mothership' or comet confirmed

The mysterious interstellar visitor streaking through our Solar System is just days away from revealing its true origins.

Harvard professor Avi Loeb told DailyMail.com that if the object, dubbed 3I/ATLAS, is a comet, it should 'disintegrate into fragments' as it swings closest to the sun on October 29, 2025. 

The European Space Agency's Jupiter probe will have a front-row seat, capturing the moment it either breaks apart or, as Loeb speculated, 'releases mini-probes as a technological mothership.'

'When a comet gets close to the sun, solar radiation heats its icy nucleus,' Loeb explained. 

'Volatile ices like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, or water sublimate directly into gas, carrying away dust and small rocks. 

'This process can cause the comet to break apart if the mix of ice and dust cannot withstand the thermal stress.'

But if it does not, Loeb said, it could release 'a fleet of mini-probes to study multiple targets simultaneously.'

Loeb noted there is a 30 to 40 percent chance the object 'does not have a fully natural origin,' noting the possibility it is a 'Trojan Horse,' where a technological object masquerades as a comet.

This is a developing story... More updates to come 

The ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) craft will have a view of the object when it comes 125 million miles from the planet and monitor it through November.

'During November and December, terrestrial observatories will also be able to monitor 3I/ATLAS and check whether it disintegrated like a natural comet or released mini-probes as a technological mothership,' Loeb explained.