US EditionScientists trace latest interstellar comet’s home to a cold, isolated corner of the Milky Way
Researchers found 3I/ATLAS has 30 times more semi-heavy water than typical Solar System comets, pointing to a frigid birthplace.
- Comet Atlas, a confirmed interstellar visitor, likely originated in a cold, isolated corner of the galaxy before its host star formed, astronomers reported Thursday.
- Scientists estimate the comet is up to 11 billion years old, more than twice the sun's age, and predates its own solar system in an environment significantly colder than our cosmic neighborhood.
- Researchers led by the University of Michigan used the ALMA observatory in Chile to detect extremely high levels of heavy hydrogen in the comet's water, while the Hubble Space Telescope measured its nucleus between 440 meters and 5.6 kilometers.
- Hurtling away at 137,000 mph, the comet is now well beyond Jupiter on a permanent departure from our solar system, remaining visible only to professional astronomers.
- This object follows the 2017 discovery of Oumuamua in Hawaii and the 2019 detection of comet Borisov, spotted by a Crimean amateur astronomer, establishing Atlas as the third confirmed interstellar visitor.
63 Articles
63 Articles
New Research Reveals That Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Formed in a System Far Colder Than Our Own
The interplanetary comet 3I/ATLAS is remarkably rich in a specific type of water that contains deuterium, meaning it came from somewhere colder and with lower levels of radiation than our early Solar System.
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der Standard DEThe third interstellar visitor in our solar system delivers new surprises. Its composition differs from all known comets
Fastest comet ever recorded spewed 70 Olympic pools’ worth of water daily
Astronomers knew 3I/ATLAS wasn’t a local comet not long after first spotting it in July 2025. As only the third interstellar object ever detected in our solar system, it offered researchers a rare—and brief—opportunity. With the right timing and equipment, scientists around the world could examine a cosmic visitor who possibly formed under far different conditions than those experienced in our own region of the galaxy. 3I/ATLAS is now sailing aw…
3I/ATLAS contains 30 times more semi-heavy water than comets in our solar system
New observations of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS include the first measurement of the abundance of deuterated water relative to ordinary water in an interstellar object. Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) discovered that the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is made of an astonishingly high ratio of semi-heavy water relative to water, indicating that its system of origin likely formed under conditions far colde
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