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ScienceQuiet 10d · day 16

New Study Traces Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS to a Deep-Frozen Origin

Spectroscopy of gas released by 3I/ATLAS shows it formed at temperatures below -240°C, far from its home star.

newest coverage 9d agosummary written 13d ago7 pieces1 likes & upvotes NewswiresGoogle NewsHacker News

What to know

  • 3I/ATLAS is only the third interstellar object ever detected passing through the Solar System.
  • New spectroscopic data show it formed in conditions colder than -240°C (-400°F), likely in the icy outer edge of its home system, akin to the Kuiper Belt or Oort Cloud.
  • The WEAVE instrument on the William Herschel Telescope captured five simultaneous ion species in the comet's outgassing stream, the most detailed such measurement ever made of an interstellar object.
  • Researchers say the data help refine models of how planets and icy bodies form around other stars.

Dr. Léa Ferellec Lead author; Research Fellow, University of NorthumbriaRubén Sánchez-Janssen Co-author of the studyIsaac Newton Group / William Herschel Telescope team Instrument operators for WEAVE spectrograph

New Study Traces Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS to a Deep-Frozen Origin
universetoday.com

How it unfolded 3 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts

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  1. 3

    Team notes tail measurements are most detailed ever for an interstellar object

    Co-author Rubén Sánchez-Janssen highlights that tracking ion ratios along the comet's tail—showing only a marginal drop in hydrocarbon ions with distance—is the first time this level of detail has been captured for an interstellar object, crediting the WEAVE-LIFU instrument and a Director's Discretionary Time allocation.

    “Powerful, large-format IFUs with high sensitivity in the blue optical spectrum – like WEAVE-LIFU on the WHT – are opening new frontiers for the study of comets and other solar system objects.”
    — Rubén Sánchez-Janssen
  2. 2

    Universe Today details WEAVE spectrograph findings on comet's interior

    Follow-up coverage lays out how the WEAVE Large Integral Field Unit on the William Herschel Telescope detected five ion species (N2+, CO+, CO2+, H2O+, CH+) in the comet's tail, letting researchers measure a dinitrogen-to-carbon-monoxide ratio that indicates formation below -240°C, similar to Kuiper Belt or Oort Cloud conditions.

    “This object gives us a rare chance to study material that formed somewhere completely different to our own Solar System.”
    — Dr. Léa Ferellec
  3. 1 day quiet
  4. 1

    Researchers report 3I/ATLAS formed in extreme cold, far from its star

    A paper published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society by UK astronomers concludes that interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS formed under extremely cold conditions far from any star, based on analysis of gas it released.

    1. 1 outlet New Revelations About the Origin of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

      first by Universe Today, 14d ago