Interstellar comet 3I/Atlas may be 12 billion years old
Assume the role of a copy editor.
Say hello to 3I/Atlas, a comet discovered in July 2025 that might just be the oldest thing we've spotted in the solar system, about 12 billion years old!
It's only the third interstellar visitor we've found, after 'Oumuamua and Borisov.
Thanks to its brightness, scientists got a close look at its makeup using the James Webb Space Telescope and ALMA Observatory, pushing interstellar research forward.
Comet isotopes point to cosmic noon
Turns out, this comet has 10 times more deuterium than local comets, hinting it was born in freezing conditions at -243 Celsius.
Researchers believe it could have formed during "cosmic noon," when stars were popping up everywhere about 10 billion years ago.
Its unique isotopic signature is giving astronomers fresh clues about how these ancient objects evolve.