O “forasteiro” 3I/ATLAS terá sido criado há 10 mil milhões de anos ou mais, segundo os dados reunidos com a ajuda do telescópio James Webb. A descoberta pode levar a perceber se as condições que permitiram o surgimento da vida na Terra existem noutros locais do Universo.
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A process called ‘hot bottom burning’ helped scientists determine the age of 3I/ATLAS.
The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS carries a chemical fingerprint unlike anything in our Solar System, and it may have formed 10 to 12 billion years ago, before our Sun even existed, according to two papers published in the journal Nature.
The post Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Formed Up To 12 Billion Years Ago, New Observations Suggest appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
Newly published research made possible by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed surprising insights into the mysterious interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.
The findings, which stem from observations of the space visitor as it was leaving our Solar System months ago, reveal new clues to the ancient object’s origins, thanks to detailed new measurements of its chemistry.
Following its trip around the Sun late last year, 3I/ATLAS had been significantly warmed, causing a large amount of its icy exterior to be converted into a cloudy coma. This not only made the comet more visible but also provided Webb an ideal opportunity to collect spectrographic data that could offer important information about its chemical composition.
The Webb data, which was detailed in a recent study, indicates chemical ratios of carbon and deuterium emanating from the object that are very unlike those of comets found within our solar system.
The compelling new findings, according to NASA officials, “surprised researchers.” Here’s why.
Fundamentally, the recent Webb observations provided astronomers with one of their best opportunities to observe information about the comet’s possible origins throughout the duration of its visit to our Solar System last year.
Martin Cordiner, an astro-chemist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, called the observations “a unique opportunity to study an ancient object from the distant galaxy, probably pre-dating our Sun and solar system.”
Cordiner, who was also the lead author of the recent Nature study, said that the data he and his co-authors were able to obtain helped to provide “direct insight into that distant time and place” from which 3I/ATLAS originates, while also providing new insights into “how unusual our own solar system may be.”
Understandably, the Webb telescope is in high demand, and Cordiner and his team had to interrupt the space observatory’s planned schedule to turn its powerful eye toward 3I/ATLAS as it made its exit.
Cordiner and the research team joined astronomers from many sub-disciplines in taking the opportunity to get a look at 3I/ATLAS on its journey through the solar system, which relied primarily on Webb’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) instrument.
As previously reported by The Debrief, the telescope’s NIRSpec instrument revealed “exceptionally high” levels of deuterium—also known as “heavy hydrogen”—amounting to nearly 30 times the amount normally seen in comets within our solar system.
One thing this probably indicates is that early in its lifetime, 3I/ATLAS was likely exposed to large amounts of radiation, which gave rise to the deuterium-rich ice in its composition. However, after drifting through space for eons without coming into proximity to a star like our Sun, there were no opportunities for this “heavy water” to be converted back into the typical kind of H20 water common on our planet.
Another primary finding Cordiner and the team made is that NIRSpec data revealed only small amounts of carbon-13, as opposed to its lighter counterpart, carbon-12. Since carbon-13 enrichment is known to occur within stellar systems over time, the team interprets this as evidence for the extreme age of 3I/ATLAS, which could have origins going as far back as an astonishing 12 billion years ago.
This would place the interstellar object’s birth within the period astronomers identify as “cosmic noon,” during which our universe was undergoing its peak period in star formation. Additionally, separate observations involving the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope help to affirm the recent Webb findings, along with complementary insights into the ancient comet’s carbon content, as well as nitrogen present in the form of cyanide, revealed from recent spectrographic analysis.
“For us as scientists, finding these rare isotopes is fascinating, but the bigger picture here is looking at the possibilities of prebiotic chemistry elsewhere in the galaxy,” said Stefanie Milam, one of the recent study’s co-authors, and also a researcher at NASA Goddard, in a recent statement.
Fundamentally, what the latest data on 3I/ATLAS conveys is more than just a rare look at a cosmic voyager who briefly entered our Solar System—it is a potential glimpse at how the very building blocks of life could have made their way into our planetary neighborhood long ago, eventually arriving here on Earth.
“So far, we know of only one place in the vast cosmos where chemical ingredients led to life – our solar system, our Earth,” Milam recently said.
“Analysis of these interstellar objects is a major step towards learning how common, or uncommon, the conditions for the evolution of life are in the universe,” Milam added.
The team’s recent study, “Isotopic evidence for a cold and distant origin of 3I/ATLAS,” appeared in the journal Nature on June 22, 2026.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.
The most recent interstellar visitor was crisscrossing our galaxy for some 10 to 12 billion years before it came near the Sun.
The post Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Has Cold, Ancient Origins appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Using the SETI Institute’s Allen Telescope Array, a 42-element radio interferometer at Hat Creek Radio Observatory in Hat Creek, California, astronomers probed 3I/ATLAS for artificial radio transmissions but found only human-made interference.
The post Astronomers Scan Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS for Alien Radio Signals appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
Astronomers from around the world were fascinated last year when 3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar object ever observed passing through our Solar System, was discovered.
The SETI Institute was one of the many organizations that examined the unusual interstellar object, conducting a comprehensive search for any signs that it might be producing technological signals.
Using the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory in Northern California, SETI researchers scanned a broad range of radio frequencies in search of potential evidence of extraterrestrial technology associated with 3I/ATLAS. The data that came back was clear: no signs of artificial signals. As most astronomers expected, 3I/ATLAS is most likely a natural comet.
Observations of interstellar objects have become more common in recent years, due to advances in telescopic technologies available to astronomers. Discovered last July, 3I/ATLAS is only the third confirmed interstellar visitor to enter our Solar System, preceded by 1I/ʻOumuamua in 2017, and 2I/Borisov in 2019.
These rare discoveries help astronomers understand the materials in our cosmic backyard. By analyzing the composition of these objects, scientists can gain a deeper understanding of how planetary systems develop and evolve throughout the galaxy.
The majority of recent astronomical observations indicate that 3I/ATLAS is a natural object, albeit one that exhibited some unusual qualities. However, the possibility remains that we may one day find a technological artifact from an intelligent civilization; it is equally possible that at some point, aliens may also discover a spacecraft of Earthly origin.
“Eventually, our own Voyager spacecraft will be extraterrestrial artifacts in other stellar systems,” Sheik told The Debrief. “Given that, it is important that we understand the natural distribution of interstellar objects so that we will be able to identify any anomalies that could one day be signs of an artificial interstellar object.”
The SETI research team studied 3I/ATLAS for over seven hours using the ATA, searching radio frequencies from 1 to 9 gigahertz. This range is especially important because it can detect narrowband radio signals, which are rarely produced by natural space phenomena and are often considered possible signs of technological activity.
Researchers found 74 million narrowband signals, but after filtering out human interference and motion-matched sources, only about 200 remained. These were later confirmed to come entirely from Earth-based technology or satellites.
“To be clear, we did not detect any radio signals from 3I/ATLAS. We ruled out the presence of signals down to power levels comparable with everyday appliances: for example, we definitely would have picked up a cell tower or a radio station equivalent had it been on the surface of 3I/ATLAS,” Sheik said.
In other words, no technosignatures were detected. The SETI observation ruled out signals stronger than approximately 10 to 110 watts across the observed frequencies (comparable to the power consumption of a household appliance).
For a time, there was a considerable amount of speculation over whether 3I/ATLAS could represent something more than just a natural object. Among the proponents of such ideas, theoretical physicist Avi Loeb emerged as one of the most visible supporters of the possibility that the interstellar object displayed anomalous qualities that could point to technological origins.
Last July, shortly after the object’s discovery, Loeb predicted on his Medium page that 3I/ATLAS may be one of two things: a comet possessing a smaller core with a radius less than 400 meters, or “an object that favored a radial orbit into the inner solar system,” meaning that it may also be a larger object compared to its predecessors. Indeed, further observations of the object eventually suggested that 3I/ATLAS appears to be significantly larger than ‘Oumuamua or Borisov was.
Loeb also suggested in a podcast interview that 3I/ATLAS might not be following a random trajectory, but rather that its current motion could be understood as “directed” toward the inner solar system.
“That obviously opens the door for it being technological, because who would target the inner solar system?” said Loeb during an interview.
In an email to The Debrief, Loeb shared his thoughts on the recent SETI findings.
“Radio communication is an old technology, which was recently accompanied by optical laser communication in NASA’s Artemis II mission to the Moon,” Loeb said. “Lasers might replace radio communication in our future space missions, and there is no guarantee that they would operate at the frequencies scanned in this study.”
“To save power, a technological transmitter might beam its signal in the direction of the receiver (rather than Earth) and might only transmit sporadically,” Loeb added.
Last September, Loeb also looked at another fairly remote possibility: that the famous “Wow!” signal might be somehow related to 3I/ATLAS.
“Interestingly, the anomalous ‘Wow! Signal’ detected on August 15, 1977, came from a direction which is separated by only 9 degrees from the arrival direction of 3I/ATLAS into the inner Solar System, but a similar signal was never detected again,” Loeb told The Debrief.
For Sheik and the team, while 3I/ATLAS did not display any obvious signatures that could be associated with technosignatures, it still provided a significant learning opportunity.
“The results from 3I/ATLAS show how realistic it is to detect a signal with the technology we have today,” said co-author Valeria Garcia Lopez. “That is why it is important to keep searching for technosignatures, even from objects we might not expect to have signals.”
Additionally, this project highlighted the ATA’s ability to respond quickly to new discoveries. Observations began less than 24 hours after the discovery of 3I/ATLAS was announced, showcasing the telescope’s flexibility and preparedness.
Chrissy Newton is a PR professional and the founder of VOCAB Communications. She currently appears on The Discovery Channel and Max and hosts the Rebelliously Curious podcast, which can be found on YouTube and on all audio podcast streaming platforms. Follow her on X: @ChrissyNewton, Instagram: @BeingChrissyNewton, and chrissynewton.com. To contact Chrissy with a story, please email chrissy @ thedebrief.org.
Using the spectral data from the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) onboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have detected methane on 3I/ATLAS.
The post Webb Detects Methane on Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
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