Scientists have learned the age of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS
The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS may be almost three times older than the Solar System and have a unique chemical composition. According to the observations, the age of the space object reaches 12 billion years, while the Solar system was formed about 4.5 billion years ago. This was reported on June 22 by the Science X news portal.
The study's lead author, Martin Cordiner of the Goddard Space Flight Center at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), suggested that the comet may be the oldest object ever observed in the Solar System.
However, he stressed that there may be "extremely unlikely scenarios" that explain the unusual chemical composition of 3I/ATLAS. The study was conducted using the James Webb telescope and the ALMA Observatory in Chile. Isotope analysis has shown that the content of deuterium (heavy hydrogen) in the comet is 30 times higher than in objects in the Solar system. According to Cordiner, such a concentration is possible only in conditions of extreme cold — the comet formed at a temperature of about -243 degrees.
Comet 3I/ATLAS is the third confirmed interstellar object recorded in the Solar System. Unlike the previous two, it was discovered early enough for detailed observation.
The team registered the first signs of gas emission from the MDM observatory in Arizona. Then the ALMA telescope complex in the Chilean Atacama desert was connected to the work, whose sensitivity made it possible to distinguish between ordinary water and water enriched with deuterium.
Scientists suggest that 3I/ATLAS is a "relic" of the cosmic noon era, when active star birth took place in the universe about 10 billion years ago. The object has been moving through the Galaxy for billions of years after it was ejected from its system during the period of planet formation.
Astronomer Peter Veresh from the Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union noted that the comet is now leaving the Solar System and will not return. In the coming years, scientists plan to discover new interstellar objects using the Vera Rubin Observatory under construction in Chile.
On June 4, Science Daily magazine reported the discovery of methane on 3I/ATLAS. According to the publication, the appearance of methane only after the comet passed the point closest to the Sun indicates that the gas was hiding under the surface and came out only when the solar heating reached deeper ice layers. Then experts concluded that its composition is not similar to other objects in the Solar system.: The ratio of water and methane 3I/ATLAS turned out to be significantly higher than that of the vast majority of other comets.
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