Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is erupting in 'ice volcanoes', new images suggest
SMRTR summary
Erupting ice volcanoes may be sprouting across the surface of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it rockets through our solar system at 137,000 miles per hour. Spanish astronomers using the Joan Oró Telescope captured the highest-resolution images yet of gas and dust jets shooting from the visitor, revealing what they believe are cryovolcanoes triggered by the sun's heat melting frozen carbon dioxide locked inside the comet.
The surprising discovery suggests this alien wanderer bears a striking resemblance to objects from the outer edges of our own solar system, despite traveling here from another star system entirely. "Being a comet formed in a remote planetary system, it is remarkable that the mixture of materials forming the surface of the body has resemblance with trans-Neptunian objects," said study lead Josep Trigo-Rodríguez.
The comet, potentially billions of years older than our solar system, offers scientists a rare glimpse into conditions around distant stars. Researchers are racing to study this cosmic time capsule before it departs our neighborhood forever next year, treating it as what Trigo-Rodríguez calls a "space capsule, containing valuable information about the chemistry ongoing in another location of our galaxy."
SMRTR provides this summary for quick context. The original article belongs to Live Science.
Read the original article