Anonymous25 days ago
Astronomers using the ALMA telescope in Chile have detected extraordinarily high concentrations of methanol — a type of alcohol — in interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, making it one of the most alcohol-rich comets ever studied. The comet's methanol content is roughly four times that of typical solar system comets, with methanol-to-HCN ratios of 70 to 120, and the alcohol appears to originate from both the comet's nucleus and tiny ice particles in its coma. Combined with earlier JWST findings of extreme deuterium enrichment and anomalous carbon isotope ratios, the data suggest 3I/ATLAS is an ancient fragment of a planetary system that formed 10–12 billion years ago in a cold, metal-poor region of the early Milky Way.