3I/ATLAS likely formed in the outskirts of an old star system | ESO News

3I/ATLAS likely formed in the outskirts of an old star system | ESO News

July 6, 2026 · 1 min

About this episode

Astronomers studied the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS and its formation in an old star system.

Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have studied the relative abundances of carbon and nitrogen in 3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar comet discovered so far. Their findings suggest that the comet likely formed in the outskirts of the disc around a star older than the Sun. This video summarises the discovery.

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