Comet 3I/Atlas is there it’s currently leaving the solar system and heading into interstellar space, but scientists are still analyzing the data it left behind as it passed through our cosmic neighborhood. The novel study, which is still under review, reveals a surprising detail: the comet is laden with alcohol.
Observations with the ALMA telescope in the Atacama Desert in Chile show that the celestial body’s coma is highly enriched in methanol, a type of alcohol commonly found in fuels and solvents. Although methanol is common in solar system comets, 3I/Atlas contained as much as four times the typical amount.
According to the study available at: arXiv3I/Atlas is the second most methanol-rich comet ever measured, behind the extraordinary comet C/2016 R2 discovered 10 years ago. Parallel studies also found gigantic amounts of other organic compounds such as carbon dioxide, iron and nitrogen, supporting the idea that the object had an unusual composition.
The combination of excess methanol, a carbon dioxide-dominated coma, and other unusual chemical conditions support the hypothesis that 3I/Atlas formed in an environment that was colder, more irradiated, or chemically different than any comet-forming region in the solar system.
The paper also suggests that 3I/Atlas may fall into the category of hyperactive comets, which are bodies that produce more water vapor than their surface allows. In these comets, some of the gas comes not from the nucleus, but from ice grains that float in the coma and sublimate. Scientists suggest that 3I/Atlas released methanol, water and carbon dioxide from both the core and these icy grains.
In this case, much of the methanol came from separated ices that sublimed as the comet approached the Sun. This behavior matches that of hyperactive comets and reinforces the idea that 3I/Atlas is a natural, extremely cool and chemically complicated object, further ruling out any speculation of artificial origin.
Today the comet is moving away from the solar system at a speed of 60 kilometers per second. It is only the third confirmed interstellar object in history, but astronomers expect future searches with novel, more advanced instruments will reveal much more.