Chemistry Reveals the Origins of an Interstellar Comet

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Rommie Analytics

3I/ATLAS photographed in color by the Gemini North telescope on 26 November, 2025. Spectra taken of the comet reveal chemical information about its birthplace around an ancient, metal-poor star. Courtesy International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

Somewhere in the Milky Way Galaxy is an old star that has lost one of its comets. By some quirk of orbital mechanics, that frozen nucleus of ice and dust got kicked out of its home system and into a long and winding trajectory across space. It entered our Solar System sometime in the distant past and traveled somewhat near to Earth on October 30, 2025, on its way through the system.

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