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3iatlas

All articles tagged with #3iatlas

science11 hours ago•33 min saved

Interstellar Seed? Loeb Suggests 3I/ATLAS Might Have Seeded Life Here

Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb proposes that the interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS could have seeded life in the Solar System, either by ice-embedded life released as it traveled or through directed panspermia by an advanced civilization; while the idea is controversial and debated, Loeb argues that intercepting such objects could help determine if extrasolar life resembles Earth life, a notion that would have profound implications for our understanding of life's origins.

via Yahoo News New Zealand|

#3iatlas #avi-loeb #habitable-planets

science9 days ago•5 min saved

Rubin Observatory Uncovers Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS in Early Images, 10 Days Before Official Detection

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory captured images of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS during its science-validation phase—ten days before its official discovery—showing an active coma and implying Rubin could detect more interstellar visitors as its Legacy Survey progresses; coordinated observations with JUICE and Europa Clipper identified hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon in the coma, enabling comparisons with Solar System comets; the object is estimated to be 7–12 billion years old with a ~1 km nucleus traveling about 140,000 mph, and findings published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters help illuminate where such bodies form and how to spot them.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#3iatlas #astronomy #interstellarobject

space10 days ago•73 min saved

Rubin data uncovers pre-discovery images of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS

Astronomers found images of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS in Vera Rubin Observatory commissioning data from June 20, 2025, ten days before its official discovery by ATLAS on July 1, 2025. Rubin captured nine additional images between June 21 and July 2, with a clear coma, but a non-operational data pipeline during validation required a custom pipeline to extract the signals. The discovery hints Rubin LSST could detect about one interstellar comet per year. Joint observations by JUICE and Europa Clipper later detected hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon from 3I/ATLAS, with JWST data suggesting excess carbon dioxide; these findings help compare the comet’s origin to solar-system bodies. The nucleus is ~1 km wide and traveling ~140,000 mph, implying an age of several billion years and multiple stellar encounters. The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

via Space|

#3iatlas #astrophysical-journal-letters #commissioning-data

space18 days ago•7 min saved

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Carries Unprecedented Heavy Water, Hinting at Cold Birth

Astronomers analyzing the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS found an exceptionally high amount of heavy water (deuterium-rich water), suggesting it formed in a much colder, lower-radiation environment than our solar system. This marks the first successful water analysis of an interstellar object and points to diverse planetary-forming conditions across the galaxy, with future studies likely to reveal more such visitors as observational capabilities improve.

via ScienceDaily|

#3iatlas #alma #deuterium

science25 days ago•6 min saved

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Reveals Frigid Birth Outside Our Solar System

ALMA observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS show a deuterium-rich water signature, indicating it formed in a colder, outer region of a protoplanetary disk around another star, making it a time capsule from the galaxy’s early days.

via CNN|

#3iatlas #alma #deuterium

science1 month ago•40 min saved

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Highlights Solar System Uniqueness

ALMA and JWST observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS reveal a striking excess of heavy water, indicating it formed in a much colder environment and likely experienced limited thermal processing. This enrichment suggests its origin differs markedly from our solar system’s history, underscoring that our solar system may be unusual and pointing to rich future discoveries of interstellar material with upcoming telescopes.

via Yahoo|

#3iatlas #deuterium #heavy-water

space1 month ago•7 min saved

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Carries Frozen Clues From Ultra-Cold Star-Forming Realms

Astronomers using ALMA detected an exceptionally high abundance of deuterated water (HDO) in interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS—more than 30 times what’s typical in solar-system comets and over 40 times Earth's ocean water—indicating the comet formed in environments colder than about 30 Kelvin, far colder than the region that formed our solar system. The finding suggests interstellar comets carry preserved birth-region chemistry and underscores that planetary formation varies with local temperature and radiation across the galaxy.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#3iatlas #alma #astrochemistry

science1 month ago•3 min saved

3I/ATLAS Traces Ultra-Cold Origins of an Interstellar Comet

Astronomers using the ALMA Observatory found that interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS contains unusually high deuterium in its water, implying it formed in a very cold, loner star-forming region long before the Sun. The object could be the oldest known interstellar visitor (up to about 11 billion years old); its nucleus is estimated to range from a quarter-mile to 3.5 miles (440 meters to 5.6 kilometers) across, and it is speeding away from the Sun at roughly 137,000 mph. The findings, published in Nature Astronomy, add context to other interstellar visitors like Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov.

via ScienceAlert|

#3iatlas #alma #comet

space1 month ago•74 min saved

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Formed in a Frigid Milky Way Region

ALMA measurements of deuterated water in interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS show it formed in a far colder, chemically distinct region of the Milky Way than the solar system, with deuterated-water content about 30 times higher than solar-system comets and roughly 40 times Earth's oceans.

via Space|

#3iatlas #alma #comet

space1 month ago•72 min saved

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Unveils Hidden Chemistry Near the Sun

New measurements of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS show its coma chemistry changing after a close pass to the Sun, with the CO2-to-water ratio shifting between observations in late 2025 and early 2026 (including Subaru data from Jan 7, 2026 and JUICE observations in Nov 2025). The results imply the comet’s internal chemistry differs from its external makeup, offering insights into planetesimal and planet formation in other star systems; the work by Yoshiharu Shinnaka and collaborators will be published in the Astronomical Journal on April 22, 2026.

via Space|

#3iatlas #astrochemistry #comet

space1 month ago•77 min saved

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS pours water into space, JUICE reveals

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is actively ejecting water vapor as it passes near the Sun, with an outflow of about two tons per second (roughly 70 Olympic swimming pools of water vapor per day), observed by ESA’s JUICE spacecraft using the MAJIS and JANUS instruments. Infrared detections of water vapor and carbon dioxide around perihelion show an extended coma, tail, and jets, offering a glimpse into materials formed around another star billions of years ago. The observations were unplanned and conducted in 2025, with data reaching Earth in 2026, highlighting JUICE’s capability to study interstellar visitors on its journey to Jupiter.

via Space|

#3iatlas #interstellar-comet #juice

science1 month ago•5 min saved

Subaru Telescope Spots Chemical Clues in Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

Astronomers using the Subaru Telescope captured a multi-wavelength image of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS (C/2025 N1) in December 2025, revealing its chemical and physical properties and offering new insights into how planetesimals and planets may form in distant star systems.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#3iatlas #astronomy #interstellar-comet

space1 month ago•77 min saved

Ancient interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS could be a 10–12 billion-year relic from the Milky Way

New JWST/NIRSpec analysis of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS finds an unusually low carbon-13 to carbon-12 ratio and significant deuterium enrichment, implying it formed very early in the Milky Way’s history. Modeling suggests 3I/ATLAS may be 10–12 billion years old, potentially originating from a thick-disk star system, making it one of the oldest interstellar visitors and perhaps a relic from a vanished stellar neighborhood. The age estimate is not yet peer‑reviewed and is available via a preprint, with researchers noting ongoing uncertainty but tantalizing clues about ancient planet formation beyond our galaxy.

via Space|

#3iatlas #carbon-12-to-carbon-13 #deuterium

science2 months ago•3 min saved

Deuterium Signals in 3I/ATLAS Spur Fusion Talk, Not Alien Proof

New JWST analyses of the interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS reveal unusually high deuterium in its gases, suggesting formation in extremely cold, metal-poor regions billions of years ago. Two Nature Astronomy papers argue the isotope pattern could be a natural relic rather than evidence of alien technology, while Avi Loeb questions the interpretation and notes deuterium as potential fusion fuel. Overall, the findings point to a natural origin and do not prove extraterrestrial engineering.

via Futurism|

#3iatlas #deuterium #fusion-fuel

science2 months ago•5 min saved

NASA Opens Public Archives to Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Data, Accelerating Discovery

NASA has opened public access to observations of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, with data from more than a dozen missions (including TESS, MAVEN, JWST, SPHEREx, and PUNCH) stored in archives such as MAST, IRSA, and the Planetary Data System. By combining cross-mission data, researchers can study 3I/ATLAS’s unique composition and behavior, illustrating how open data accelerates discovery and will help scientists compare interstellar objects in the future.

via NASA Science (.gov)|

#3iatlas #data-archives #interstellar-object