Astronomy Picture Of The Day: James Webb Space Telescope examined interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS,

 

#NASA, #Space, #astronomy, #διάστημα,

Black Hole@konstructivizm

The James Webb Space Telescope examined interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, revealing it's one of the most CO₂-rich comets ever seen, with an 8:1 CO₂-to-water ratio in its coma—16 times higher than typical solar system comets, where water dominates.Observed at ~3 AU from the Sun, this anomaly suggests formation in a distant system where CO₂ ice prevailed, perhaps due to the star evaporating water early. Alternatives: a stellar close encounter or buried water ice.The discovery highlights exoplanetary diversity. Preprint: Martin A. Cordiner et al., "JWST detection of a carbon dioxide dominated gas coma surrounding interstellar object 3I/ATLAS.", arXiv (2025)