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Join Franck Marchis and Cecilia Tubiana (INAF) at 9:00 AM PDT for SETI Live as we explore what ESA's Juice spacecraft learned from interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.

Bring your questions! https://youtube.com/live/lssQSmUmITc

#SETILive #Comet3IATLAS #JuiceMission

Webb sniffs methane from interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS ☄️

#canadianspaceagency #comet #comet3iatlas #cosmos #csa #esa #esawebb #europeanspaceagency

▶️ 1 new picture from ESA (Flickr) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Webb_sniffs_methane_from_interstellar_Comet_3I-ATLAS_%2855307778009%29.png

¡Este es un resultado realmente interesante! [1]

Sabíamos que el cometa 3I/ATLAS era un objeto interestelar debido a su órbita, pero gracias a precisas mediciones realizadas con ALMA por un equipo dirigido por un estudiante de doctorado (Luis E. Salazar Manzano [2] de la Universidad de Michigan), y supervisado por la profesora asistente chilena Teresa Paneque-Carreño [3], realmente muestran que su química no tiene que ver con la de nuestro sistema solar.

En particular, el equipo descubrió que 3I/ATLAS contiene *al menos 30 veces* la proporción de agua semipesada* que se encuentra en los cometas de nuestro propio Sistema Solar, lo que indica claramente una historia química diferente.

Los procesos químicos que conducen al enriquecimiento de HDO generalmente requieren ambientes más fríos que unos 30 Kelvin, lo que significa que el sistema solar en el que se originó 3I/ATLAS era más frío que el nuestro.

Y esto se pudo encontrar porque ALMA puede observar cometas justo después de su perihelio, y aunque bastante cerca del sol, es observable con un radiotelescopio.

*El agua semipesada [4] es agua hecha con un átomo del isótopo más común de hidrógeno (protio, o sólo un protón), un átomo de deuterio (el siguiente isótopo más común de hidrógeno, que contiene un protón y una neurona) y oxígeno. A veces se le llama HDO, con D para Deuterium, o ¹H²HO. Compare con el agua pesada, que está hecha de dos átomos de Deuterio y Oxígeno, o D2O (o ²H2O).

#ALMA #AtacamaLargeMillimeterArray #AtacamaLargeMillimeterSubmilimeterArray #Comet3IATLAS #FormacionSistemaSolar #ObjetosInterestelares
[1] https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/press-releases/alma-reveals-interestelar-comet-3i-atlas-formed-in-a-a-colder-world-than-our-own/
[2] https://lsa.umich.edu/astro/people/graduate-students/lesamz.html
[3] https://terepaneque.com/info_english/
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiheavy_water

This is a really interesting result [1]! We knew Comet 3I/ATLAS was an interstellar object because of its orbit, but the precise measurements done with ALMA by a team lead by a Ph.D. student (Luis E. Salazar Manzano from the University of Michigan), and supervised by Chilean assistant professor Teresa Paneque-Carreño [3], really show that its chemistry does not belong in our solar system.

In particular, the team found that 3I/ATLAS contains *at least 30 times* the proportion of semi-heavy water* found in comets from our own Solar System, which clearly indicates a different chemical history. The chemical processes leading to the enrichment of HDO usually require environments colder than about 30 Kelvin, which means the solar system in which 3I/ATLAS originated was colder than ours.

And this could be found because ALMA could observe the comet right after its perihelion, quite close to the sun, but observable with a radio telecope!

*Semi-heavy water [4] is water made with one atom of the most common isotope of hydrogen (protium), one atom of Deuterium (the next most common isotope of hydrogen, containing one proton and one neuron), and oxygen. It is sometimes called HDO, with D standing for Deuterium, or ¹H²HO. Compare with heavy water, which is made of two atoms of Deuterium and Oxygen, or D₂O (or ²H₂O).

#ALMA #AtacamaLargeMillimeterArray #AtacamaLargeMillimeterSubmillimeterArray #Comet3IATLAS #SolarSystemFormation #InterstellarObjects

[1] https://www.almaobservatory.org/en/press-releases/alma-reveals-interstellar-comet-3i-atlas-formed-in-a-far-colder-world-than-our-own/
[2] https://lsa.umich.edu/astro/people/graduate-students/lesamz.html
[3] https://terepaneque.com/info_english/
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiheavy_water

https://lweb.cfa.harvard.edu/~loeb/TA2.pdf

A new paper laying out the HARD DATA of the three #3iatlas jets...each one almost exactly at 120 degrees apart as you would find on a vehicle not a comet, which this one definitely is not as NASA will go to extraordinary lengths to convince everyone it's just a comet.

+ This is a trisymmetric configuration - optimal for omnidirectional attitude control

+ Provides redundancy: any two jets can control all three rotation axes

+ The 120° spacing gives balanced torque authority without dead zones

In addition,there is a large thruster pointing towards the sun (which is what main propulsion would do), sorry "outgassing", comets never do this. When they do, it's an optical illusion.

And because we now accept anomalies without blinking an eye, all three jets changed shape to fan, as if they thrusters up or changed nozzle geometry...

Throw that one atop the #anomaly pile...
#aliens #astronomy #space #comet #comet3iatlas

📄 Comet 3I/ATLAS

Quicklook:
Pipeline, L. et al. (2025) · Minor Planet Electronic Circulars
Reads: 4 · Citations: 1
DOI: 10.48377/MPEC/2025-O20

🔗 https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2025MPEC....O...20P/abstract

#Astronomy #Astrophysics #SmallSolarSystemBodies #Comet3iatlas #1469