Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS formed 12 billion years ago, JWST data reveals
By
Hannah Richter
Summary
Astronomers have determined that interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, detected nearly a year ago racing through the Solar System at 221,000 km/h, likely originated as long as 12 billion years ago. Using NASA's JWST, researchers analyzed the comet's chemical signature and report in Nature that it formed early in the history of the Milky Way, making it unlike anything seen in our Solar System.
Source
bskyInterstellar comet 3I/ATLAS formed 12 billion years ago, JWST data revealsscience.orgKey quotes
· 3 pulledNearly a year ago, astronomers around the world trained their telescopes on a bright speck whizzing through the Solar System: comet 3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar object ever detected in our cosmic neighborhood.
As long as 12 billion years ago, astronomers report today in Nature.
Using NASA's JWST...
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