NASA Webb Mission Team
Goddard Space Flight Center
Jun 22, 2026 ArticleContents
- Nature.
Image: Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS (NIRSpec IFU)
Researchers used the NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) instrument on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to map specific chemical contents of comet 3I/ATLAS as it moved away from the Sun. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Martin Cordiner (CUA, NASA-GSFC); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)The comet’s name comes from its status as the third confirmed interstellar comet, meaning it originated outside the solar system, and the telescope that first spotted it, the NASA-funded ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System).
“This was a unique opportunity to study an ancient object from the distant galaxy, probably pre-dating our Sun and solar system,” said astro-chemist Martin Cordiner of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and lead author of the study. “On the one hand, we get direct insight into that distant time and place, and on the other, we learn something about how unusual our own solar system may be.”
Cordiner and the research team joined astronomers from many sub-disciplines in taking the opportunity to get a look at 3I/ATLAS on its journey through the solar system. They received approval to interrupt Webb’s planned schedule of observations to make use of its NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) instrument to study the comet.
NIRSpec revealed exceptionally high levels of deuterium, about 30 times more than seen in solar system comets. This implies that 3I/ATLAS may have originated in a very cold system much earlier in the history of our galaxy. During its formation, the material that became incorporated into 3I/ATLAS was likely exposed to plenty of radiation, but not any long-term warmth that would have reprocessed its “heavy water” ice, with deuterium, into the type of H2O ice we are familiar with on Earth.
Image: 3I/ATLAS Compared to Solar System Comets
These graphs lay out the significant difference in composition between the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS and comets originating in our solar system. This very specific data helps researchers build a picture of the comet’s original planetary system. Illustration: NASA, ESA, CSA, Martin Cordiner (CUA, NASA-GSFC), Leah Hustak (STScI)Additionally, NIRSpec showed only traces of carbon-13 compared to lighter-weight carbon-12. This also points to a very old origin for 3I/ATLAS, as stellar systems become enriched with carbon-13 over time as generations of stars are born and die in the galaxy. That is why there are higher levels of carbon-13 in our system, around our Sun, which formed relatively recently, 4.5 billion years ago.
The research team estimates that 3I/ATLAS could have formed as long as 10 to 12 billion years ago, during the universe’s “cosmic noon,” when star formation was at its height. Its young origin system was likely ensconced in a relatively cold, dense cloud. The abundance of heavy water shows that 3I/ATLAS spent its formative years in a deeply frozen state.
A separate study using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, led by astronomer Cyrielle Opitom of the University of Edinburgh, complements Webb’s findings with an analysis of 3I/ATLAS’s carbon and nitrogen varieties in the form of the chemical cyanide.
“For us as scientists, finding these rare isotopes is fascinating, but the bigger picture here is looking at the possibilities of prebiotic chemistry elsewhere in the galaxy,” said Stefanie Milam of NASA Goddard and co-author of the study with Cordiner. “So far, we know of only one place in the vast cosmos where chemical ingredients led to life – our solar system, our Earth. Analysis of these interstellar objects is a major step towards learning how common, or uncommon, the conditions for the evolution of life are in the universe.”
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
To learn more about Webb, visit:
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Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS (NIRSpec IFU)
Researchers used the NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) instrument on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to map specific chemical contents of comet 3I/ATLAS as it moved away from the Sun.
3I/ATLAS Compared to Solar System Comets
These graphs lay out the significant difference in composition between the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS and comets originating in our solar system. This very specific data helps researchers build a picture of the comet’s original planetary system.
Related Links
Read more:NASA’s Webb Detects Methane on Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS
Explore more:NASA's 3I/ATLAS Observation Timeline
Watch:Interstellar Visitor is Fastest Comet Ever Recorded
Watch:ViewSpace | Interstellar Comet Measured
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Last Updated Jun 22, 2026 LocationNASA Goddard Space Flight Center Contact MediaLaura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.govLeah Ramsay
Space Telescope Science Institute
Baltimore, MarylandChristine Pulliam
Space Telescope Science Institute
Baltimore, MarylandRelated Terms
- James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
- Astrophysics
- Comets
- Goddard Space Flight Center
- Science & Research
- Small Bodies of the Solar System
- The Solar System
- The Universe
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