The bizarre interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, now racing out of our solar system, has stunned scientists with its “heavily enriched” methanol content, up to four times higher than typical comets
The mysterious interstellar visitor dubbed 3I/ATLAS which has continuously left scientists scratching their heads is apparently packed with an astonishing amount of alcohol. As boffins pore over the latest findings from this so-called “alien spaceship”, they’re discovering even more bizarre secrets about its strange chemistry and possible origins.
Fascinating comet 3I/ATLAS, which recently made a fleeting visit through our cosmic neighbourhood, is now reportedly heading off into interstellar space. However, experts are still poring over the data it left behind.
A new study, currently under review, has revealed that 3I/ATLAS is “heavily enriched in methanol”. Methanol is a type of alcohol found in fuels and solvents.
Using the ALMA telescope in Chile’s Atacama Desert, researchers reportedly found the comet’s coma contains up to four times more methanol than is usually seen in comets from our own solar system. In fact, according to the study posted on arXiv, 3I/ATLAS is the “second most methanol-rich comet ever measured”, beaten only by the oddball C/2016 R2.
But that’s not all. Scientists also detected unusually high levels of other organic compounds, including carbon dioxide, iron, and nitrogen, Wired reported.
This strange chemical cocktail has led researchers to believe 3I/ATLAS formed in a much colder, more irradiated, or chemically unique environment than anything we know from our solar system. The paper also suggests 3I/ATLAS could be what’s known as a “hyperactive comet”.
As a result, it may be one that spews out more water vapour than its surface area should allow.
In these rare comets, some of the gas doesn’t come from the nucleus, but from tiny ice grains floating in the coma and turning straight into vapour.
The researchers reckon that “a significant fraction of methanol came from detached ices that sublimated during the comet’s approach to the sun”, as per Wired.
Despite all the excitement, scientists reportedly say this “natural, extremely cold, and chemically complex object” is definitely not the work of aliens, putting to bed any wild theories about artificial origins.
The comet is now speeding away from the solar system at a whopping 60 kilometres per second.
It’s only the third confirmed interstellar object ever spotted, but astronomers are confident that with better telescopes, we’ll soon be finding plenty more, according to Wired.
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