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A picture of the Interstellar Invader Comet 3i/Atlas, as seen by the Hubble World Camp Telescope. | Credit: Robert Lea (created with Canva)
A team of scientists has found that the recently discovered “Interstellar Invader” Comet 3i/Atlas is teeming with water ice. This water could have been sealed in the comet for 7 billion years, which would make it older than the solar system itself.
The team also found a mixture of organic molecules, silicates and minerals based on carbon on the object, which means that 3I/Atlas asteroids are similar to found on the edge of the main belt of the solar system between Mars and Jupiter.
The observations of the team, which were carried out with the SPEX instrument of the NASA infrared telescopic system (IRTF) on the Mauna Kea in Hawaii and the Gemini-Multi-object spectraph on the Gemini South telescope in Chile.
3i/Atlas was discovered on July 1 by the Atlas Surcope telescope and is only the third object that astronomers have discovered that have passed the solar system from outside its borders.
The two previous interstellar bodies that were discovered in the solar system were the cigar -reflected 1i/’Oumuamua, which was seen in 2017, and the apparent Asteroid/Comet Hybrid 2i/Borisov, two years later in 2019.
Some scientists estimate that there could be up to 1 million interstellar visitors in the solar system at any time. It is believed that many of them could lurk in the Oort cloud, a shell of comets on the edge of the solar system. The examination of 3I/Atlas and other interstellar interstellar interstalles could show how conditions are in other planetary systems.
“3i/Atlas is an active comet. It clearly shows a coma and probably contains a considerable amount of water ice,” said Bin Yang, the head of this new research and a scientist at the Universidad Diego Portales. “His physical activity confirms his classification as a comet. The most exciting result was the presence of water ice characteristics in a coma.”
The potentially 7 billion year old Interstellar Comet 3i/Atlas, which drives through a background of stars. | Credit: ESA
Comas are the nebulous envelopes of gas and dust surrounding the comets. This material was excluded from the core of a comet – this means that the analysis of a technique called spectroscopy can tell the astronomers what the rock and ice of this comet are made of.
“We received visible and almost infrared spectra of 3i/Atlas when it approached the sun,” said Yang. “However, no gas emissions were found.”
Yang and colleagues found that 3I/Atlas is undoubtedly a comet, some of its spectroscopic properties and its dust composition are similar to Asteroids of the type D type. These are bodies from the main seaside belt with organic molecular silicates and carbon with water ice in their interiors.
“Its reflection properties are the most similar to the Asteroid of type D-Type and some active comets,” said Yang. “The spectrum of 3i/atlas can match a combination of tagish -lake meteorite material and water ice. This indicates a mixture of organic instruments, silicates, carbonate minerals and a considerable amount of water ice.”
A picture of the Interstellar Invader Comet 3i/Atlas, as the Hubble World Commercial Telescope can be seen. | Credit: NASA/ ESA/ Hubble
This could also offer a deeper insight into the development of the Milky Way. This is because separate research used the trajectory of 3i/Atlas to conclude that it comes from a region of our galaxy with stars that formed around 2.5 billion years before our 4.6 billion sun.
This gives 3i/Atlas a prospective age of 7 billion years, which would make it the oldest comet that has ever seen humanity.
“If the initial water ice recognition is confirmed, this could actually be some of the oldest and most flawless water that have ever been observed in another planetary system and are preserved during his interstellar journey,” said Yang.
Related stories:
– Hubble Spots Interstellar Invader Comet 3i/Atlas for the first time
– Astronomers say that the new interstellar visitor 3i/Atlas “is very likely the oldest comet we have ever seen”
– Astronauts could one day reduce asteroids for food, say scientists
Yang emphasized that there is still no direct detection of individual connections around 3i/atlas, with these results a derived composition.
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Yang and colleagues are now waiting for complementary data from other teams that use large telescopes such as the very large telescope and the Keck -Observatory.
“Our goal is to combine these spectra to confirm the ice recognition and look for gas emissions when the object is approaching the sun,” concluded Yang.
Of course, 3I/Atlas will employ the scientists in the coming years.
A pre-peer version of the team research appears in the Arxiv paper repository.
