Close Menu
    James Webb Space Telescope takes 1st look at interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS with unexpected results
    Space

    James Webb Space Telescope takes 1st look at interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS with unexpected results

    Share.
    View 5 Comments

    5 Comments

    2. sooley6 on

      ELI5 how they can tell its age of “could be 7 billion years old” when they’re basically learning the makeup of the thing as we speak.

      I mean, it could be 8 billion years old, or 13 billion years old.

    3. Doug24 on

      “a team of astronomers that observed the comet with the[ JWST](https://www.space.com/21925-james-webb-space-telescope-jwst.html) explains that studying comets like this from other star systems helps to study what conditions were like in those systems as they were forming. Those results can then be compared to what scientists have learned about the conditions around the sun 4.6 billion years ago, when the planets, asteroids, and comets of the solar system were forming.

      When comets approach the sun and are warmed by its heat, frozen materials within them are transformed from solids straight into gases. This results in gases escaping, a process called “outgassing,” creating the characteristic tail and halo, or “coma,” of a comet.”

    4. No-Commercial-5653 on

      Now picture If the Earth were to pass through a massive cloud of carbon dioxide (CO2) left behind by 3I atlas the consequences would be catastrophic and multifaceted, impacting all life forms and radically altering the planet’s climate and oceans.

    5. aplayer_v1 on

      Well it’s still an educated guess. Will have to wait for the actual science paper to go more into detail