According to a new study, astronomers found something strange in the first image of James Webb’s Space Telescope’s first image of Interstellar Comet 3i/Atlas.
The initial observations of the telescope suggest that 3i/Atlas has one of the highest carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (HO) ratios ever recorded on a comet. This extraordinary chemistry, if confirmed, was able to shed light on the mystical origins of 3i/Atlas beyond our solar system.
Scientists have learned everything about 3i/Atlas can do, using a variety of telescopes since their discovery in July. The only extremely rare comet is the third confirmed interstellar object ever recorded, and researchers are keen to study its makeup before the intruders bubble past the sun in October, leaving the solar system permanently out.
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The first James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations took place on August 6th, and researchers used JWST’s near-infrared spectrometer to decipher the comet’s physical properties based on the light it emits. They have not yet been peer reviewed as they reported their findings on Monday (August 25) in a preprint paper posted to the European Research Repository.
Comets develop the atmosphere, or coma, when flying on stars. This gas and dust cloud becomes larger and brighter as the comet approaches the star, and comets and other materials are heated by ice and other materials in a process called outgassing, which releases gas. JWST Imaging revealed that 3i/Atlas coma is dominated by carbon dioxide, according to the study.
The researchers noted that high carbon content could link to places where CO2 was formed in relation to exposure to radiation or to comets (the distance in which the spiral gas and dust were born) formed in relation to the distance CO2 (CO2 ice lines) frozen around the parent protranetary disc.
“Our observations are essentially compatible with CO2-rich nuclei. This could indicate that 3i/Atlas contains ice exposed to higher levels of radiation than the solar system comets, or that it formed near the CO2 ice line of the parental primitive intestinal disc.
Related: Interstellar Comet 3i/Atlas is converted to a giant “space rainbow” with Trippy New Telescope image
Astronomers are learning more about 3i/Atlas with every new observation. Their findings show that comets so far are ringing at speeds above 130,000 mph (210,000 km/h) in an unusually flat and straight trajectory that is different from the rest of the solar system.
Initial size estimates show that the comet is about 7 miles (11 kilometers) wide. However, subsequent data from the Hubble Space Telescope suggests that the 3i/Atlas is probably close to 3.5 miles (5.6 km). Either way, it is probably the largest interstellar object ever seen. 3i/Atlas may be the oldest comet we’ve seen so far, with one study suggesting it is about 3 billion years old than the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. It is currently unknown where the comet came from.
That doesn’t stop speculation. Last month, a controversial preprint study explored the idea that 3i/Atlas could be part of a “probably hostile” skin technology disguised. However, experts told Live Science that the research claims were “nonsense” and “inhumanity.”
The speed of a comet, with the highest speed ever recorded by solar system visitors, is evidence that the 3i/Atlas has been running for billions of years, and that stars and nebulae are gaining momentum by whipping them by the starry sky, according to a NASA statement released Monday following observations from Hubble Space Telescope.
“No one knows where the comet came from,” said David Judeat, a UCLA astronomer and science team leader at Hubble Observation. “It’s like a 1,000-second glimpse of a rifle bullet. You can’t go back exactly and figure out where it started on that path.”
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