{"id":258902,"date":"2025-11-03T13:58:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T13:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/258902\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T13:58:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T13:58:08","slug":"major-breakthrough-water-found-on-7-billion-year-old-interstellar-comet-3i-atlas-reshapes-planet-formation-theories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/258902\/","title":{"rendered":"Major breakthrough: Water found on 7-billion-year-old interstellar comet 3I\/ATLAS reshapes planet formation theories"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA scientists<\/a> have made a significant breakthrough. They confirmed the detection of water\u2019s chemical signature on the interstellar comet 3I\/ATLAS. This discovery could fundamentally change our understanding of cometary evolution and whether distant planetary systems might hold the core ingredients for life.<\/p>\n

The interstellar comet 3I\/ATLAS<\/a> was first identified on 1 July 2025. It was found by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Hawaii. 3I\/ATLAS is only the third interstellar object ever detected. The others were 1I\/\u2018Oumuamua in 2017 and 2I\/Borisov in 2019.<\/p>\n

3I\/ATLAS Travelling on Hyperbolic Trajectory<\/p>\n

Unlike most comets that orbit the Sun, 3I\/ATLAS is currently travelling on a hyperbolic trajectory. This means it did not originate in our Solar System; it came from another star system and will depart our Solar System forever. Astronomers estimate its age at a remarkable seven billion years. This makes it almost twice as old as Earth and potentially the most ancient comet ever observed.<\/p>\n

Its unique age and origin make it a prime candidate for close study. It offers a brief window to examine the chemical fingerprints of an alien planetary system before it vanishes into interstellar space.<\/p>\n

According to a report in BBC Sky at Night Magazine, the detection itself was made by NASA\u2019s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, operated in collaboration with Auburn University in Alabama. The facility picked up a faint ultraviolet signal emanating from the comet. This glow is caused by the presence of hydroxyl (OH) gas, which forms when sunlight breaks down water molecules.<\/p>\n

This ultraviolet signature, which is invisible to ground-based observatories, was captured by Swift\u2019s space-based instruments. The finding confirms the first chemical evidence of water activity on an interstellar comet at such an extreme distance from the Sun.<\/p>\n

The results have been published in a new study that astronomers say will influence future models of cometary evolution and planetary formation right across the Galaxy. Crucially, the detection of water\u2014or its indirect signature\u2014on 3I\/ATLAS suggests that planet-forming systems beyond our own may possess similar chemical compositions.<\/p>\n

According to lead researcher Dr Zexi Xing, \u201cEvery interstellar comet so far has been a surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEach interstellar comet we\u2019ve observed has rewritten the rules,\u201d said Prof. Dennis Bodewits, co-author of the study. \u201c\u2018Oumuamua was dry, Borisov was carbon monoxide-rich, and now ATLAS is revealing water in conditions where we didn\u2019t expect it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASA scientists have made a significant breakthrough. They confirmed the detection of water\u2019s chemical signature on the interstellar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[1590,2025,49,48,81488,1677,1598,307,19729,66,997,306,11547],"class_list":["post-258902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-3i-atlas","tag-astronomers","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-comet-3i-atlas","tag-earth","tag-interstellar-comet","tag-nasa","tag-planetary-science","tag-science","tag-science-news","tag-space","tag-water"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}