All articles tagged with #interstellar
Scientists using the VLT measured carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios in cyanide around interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS and conclude it formed in the outer regions of an old, low-metallicity star system—likely much older than the Sun—making it one of the Galaxy’s oldest known objects; future observations with the ELT will study more interstellar visitors.
New isotope measurements from JWST and the VLT corroborate that interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS formed billions of years ago far from its parent star, likely in the outer regions of a protoplanetary disk (akin to a Kuiper belt) and was later ejected into interstellar space. Its carbon-12 to carbon-13 and nitrogen-14 to nitrogen-15 ratios differ markedly from solar-system comets, suggesting a birth environment and chemistry unlike our own. The findings were published in Nature Astronomy.
New Horizons observations indicate interstellar material slows the solar wind as it moves outward, adding a gradual drag beyond the termination shock. Simulations align with Voyager 2 data, showing the wind is about 5–10% slower between 30–43 AU and 13–15% slower at ~58 AU, due to ionized interstellar matter shaping the heliosphere’s boundaries and affecting cosmic-ray exposure—insights that could inform future interstellar exploration.
In July 2025, the ATLAS sky survey in Chile detected a faint, fast-moving object with a hyperbolic (unbound) orbit, later identified as 3I/ATLAS, the third confirmed interstellar object. Traveling about 130,000 mph, it was not a threat to Earth, with a close approach well outside the Moon’s orbit. Hubble and other facilities observed a dust plume and activity consistent with a comet, constraining the nucleus size and confirming a cometary nature. The discovery shows interstellar visitors are real and detectable with modern surveys, enabling comparative studies of material from other star systems.
New models argue a substantial portion of solar-system water—roughly 30–50%—was inherited from pre-solar interstellar ice, not formed in the early solar disk; the deuterium enrichment seen in solar-system water is hard to explain with disk chemistry alone, suggesting some water in Earth’s oceans and comets predates the Sun by billions of years and carries ancient interstellar heritage.
New observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS from JWST and other telescopes confirm its interstellar origin and reveal chemical fingerprints—a red, cosmic-ray–processed surface; unusually high deuterium abundance and a carbon-12 to carbon-13 ratio far lower than Solar System values—that point to formation in a cold, primitive environment long before our Solar System, making 3I/ATLAS billions of years older than the Sun; its orbit alone cannot determine its age.
Webb’s NIRSpec study of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS reveals unusually high deuterium and low carbon-13, suggesting the it formed in a very cold, early region of the galaxy roughly 10–12 billion years ago outside our Solar System. The isotopic signatures imply formation in a dense, frozen cloud and hint that the ingredients for chemistry—and possibly life—could exist in distant stellar nurseries. The findings, published in Nature, are complemented by an ESO/VLT analysis of cyanide isotopes.
Astronomers analyzing the interstellar comet suggest it formed long before the Sun, likely in another star system before being ejected into interstellar space, implying its material is much older than the Solar System and offering clues about planetary formation elsewhere.
JWST observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, taken near and after perihelion, detect methane for the first time on an interstellar object. The methane-to-water ratio is higher than in most solar-system comets, and the methane appears after perihelion because it is buried deeper in the nucleus and only sublimates with extended solar heating; concurrently water vapor declined as the comet crossed the snow line, while CO2 and methane persisted, suggesting 3I/ATLAS formed in a different environment and preserves primordial methane ice, providing insight into other planetary systems.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (MIRI) detected methane gas and an unusually high CO2-to-water ratio in interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS during December 2025 observations, marking the first direct methane detection in an interstellar object. The data imply formation in conditions distinct from the Solar System and suggest the comet, possibly up to 10 billion years old, formed far from our Sun; as it warmed near the Sun, buried methane thawed and CO2 was released, with gas production fading as it receded into interstellar space. These findings help illuminate chemical environments in distant planetary systems.
NASA/ESA/CSA’s James Webb Space Telescope detected methane in the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS for the first time, finding a high methane-to-water ratio and strong carbon dioxide near the nucleus, with water vapor spreading through the coma. Observations on two dates as the comet receded from the Sun suggest methane was buried beneath the surface, indicating a formation chemistry quite different from most Solar System comets.
NASA's JPL shut down Voyager 1's Low-energy Charged Particles instrument in 2026 due to dwindling plutonium power; both Voyager probes will likely go quiet in coming years, but the Golden Record—carrying greetings in 55 languages from Akkadian to Wu—remains as a timeless, symbolic self-portrait of humanity, a gesture rather than a scientific instrument, designed to convey Earth's diversity to any distant listener.
NASA's Voyager 1 and 2 may keep transmitting deep-space data into the 2030s thanks to a high-risk power-management maneuver nicknamed the 'Big Bang' that will disable three instruments to prevent fuel-line freezing and replace them with new devices to save about 10 watts. Testing on Voyager 2 in May and June 2026, followed by Voyager 1, aims to extend instrument life by roughly a year as power from aging RTGs dwindles; the goal remains to reach about 200 astronomical units by around 2035, though the probes will continue to lose capability as power declines and the transmitter consumes most of the remaining power.
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.
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.