Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
186,123 studies31 sourcesUpdated 54 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDNature

Isotopic evidence for a cold and distant origin of 3I/ATLAS

  • Martin Cordiner1,2
  • Nathan X. Roth3,4
  • M. Micheli5
  • Geronimo Luis Villanueva4
  • Davide Farnocchia6
  • Steven B. Charnley4
  • N. Biver7
  • Dominique Bockelée-Morvan7
  • Dennis Bodewits8
  • Colin Orion Chandler9,10,11
  • J. Crovisier7
  • M. N. Drozdovskaya12,13
7 more authors
  • Kenji Furuya14
  • Michael S. P. Kelley15
  • Stefanie N. Milam4
  • John W. Noonan8
  • Cyrielle Opitom16
  • Megan E. Schwamb17
  • Cristina A. Thomas9
17 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Physics, Catholic University of America, Washington DC, USA. [email protected]
  2. 2Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA. [email protected]
  3. 3Department of Physics, American University, Washington DC, USA
  4. 4Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
  5. 5ESA NEO Coordination Centre, Planetary Defence Office, European Space Agency, Frascati, Italy
  6. 6Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
  7. 7LIRA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité, CY Cergy Paris Université, Meudon, France
  8. 8Department of Physics, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
  9. 9Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
  10. 10DiRAC Institute, Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
  11. 11LSST Interdisciplinary Network for Collaboration and Computing, Tucson, AZ, USA
  12. 12Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences (DCBP), Universität Bern, Bern, Switzerland
  13. 13Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos und Weltstrahlungszentrum (PMOD/WRC), Davos Dorf, Switzerland
  14. 14Pioneering Research Institute, RIKEN, Wako-shi, Japan
  15. 15Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
  16. 16Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, UK
  17. 17Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK
Open at sourcePDFDOICite

Abstract

Interstellar objects provide the only directly observable samples of icy planetesimals formed around other stars, and can therefore provide insight into the diversity of physical and chemical conditions occurring during exoplanet formation 1−3 . Here we report isotopic measurements of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, which reveal an elemental composition unlike any Solar System body. The water in 3I/ATLAS is enriched in deuterium, at a level of D/H = (0.98 ± 0.06)%, which is more than an order of magnitude higher than in known comets, while its range of 12 C/ 13 C ratios (141–191 for CO 2 and 123–172 for CO) exceeds typical values found in the Solar System, as well as nearby interstellar clouds and protoplanetary disks. Such extreme isotopic signatures indicate formation at temperatures ≲ 30 K in a relatively metal-poor environment. When interpreted with respect to models for Galactic chemical evolution, the carbon isotopic composition implies that 3I/ATLAS may have accreted as long ago as 12 billion years, following a period of intense, early star formation. 3I/ATLAS thus represents a preserved fragment of an ancient planetary system.

Related

  1. Isotopic ratios as probes of star formation and the origin of molecular gas in the Central Molecular Zone
    Laura Colzi
    arXivPreprintarXiv licenceFull textGalaxiesSolar & stellar physicsarXiv
  2. Cosmogenic isotopic evidence from Chang’e-6 clasts for excavation history and ejecta provenance in the South Pole-Aitken basin
    Mi Zhou, Yingnan Zhang, Jian Chen +9
    Nature CommunicationsPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textPlanetary science & exoplanetsCrossref
  3. High water D/H ratio of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS is consistent with a low-metallicity origin
    Kenji Furuya, Martin Cordiner, Dominique Bockelée-Morvan +5
    arXivPreprintarXiv licenceFull textGalaxiesPlanetary science & exoplanetsarXiv
  4. Deep X-ray View of a Distant Protocluster Anchored by a Quasar at z=6.63: No Evidence for Enhanced X-ray AGN Activity
    Shouyi Wang, Feige Wang, Jinyi Yang +22
    arXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textGalaxiesHigh-energy astrophysicsarXiv
  5. Evidence for a Continuous Hadron--Quark Transition in Cold Dense Matter
    Yong-Jia Huang, Bikai Gao
    arXivPreprintCC0Full textHigh-energy astrophysicsHigh-energy & particle physicsarXiv

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{cordiner2026isotopic,
  title = {{Isotopic evidence for a cold and distant origin of 3I/ATLAS}},
  author = {Martin Cordiner and Nathan X. Roth and M. Micheli and Geronimo Luis Villanueva and Davide Farnocchia and Steven B. Charnley and N. Biver and Dominique Bockelée-Morvan and Dennis Bodewits and Colin Orion Chandler and J. Crovisier and M. N. Drozdovskaya and Kenji Furuya and Michael S. P. Kelley and Stefanie N. Milam and John W. Noonan and Cyrielle Opitom and Megan E. Schwamb and Cristina A. Thomas},
  journal = {Nature},
  year = {2026},
  month = jun,
  doi = {10.1038/s41586-026-10771-6},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10771-6},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Isotopic evidence for a cold and distant origin of 3I/ATLAS
AU  - Martin Cordiner
AU  - Nathan X. Roth
AU  - M. Micheli
AU  - Geronimo Luis Villanueva
AU  - Davide Farnocchia
AU  - Steven B. Charnley
AU  - N. Biver
AU  - Dominique Bockelée-Morvan
AU  - Dennis Bodewits
AU  - Colin Orion Chandler
AU  - J. Crovisier
AU  - M. N. Drozdovskaya
AU  - Kenji Furuya
AU  - Michael S. P. Kelley
AU  - Stefanie N. Milam
AU  - John W. Noonan
AU  - Cyrielle Opitom
AU  - Megan E. Schwamb
AU  - Cristina A. Thomas
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/22
JO  - Nature
DO  - 10.1038/s41586-026-10771-6
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10771-6
AB  - Interstellar objects provide the only directly observable samples of icy planetesimals formed around other stars, and can therefore provide insight into the diversity of physical and chemical conditions occurring during exoplanet formation 1−3 . Here we report isotopic measurements of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, which reveal an elemental composition unlike any Solar System body. The water in 3I/ATLAS is enriched in deuterium, at a level of D/H = (0.98 ± 0.06)%, which is more than an order of magnitude higher than in known comets, while its range of 12 C/ 13 C ratios (141–191 for CO 2 and 123–172 for CO) exceeds typical values found in the Solar System, as well as nearby interstellar clouds and protoplanetary disks. Such extreme isotopic signatures indicate formation at temperatures ≲ 30 K in a relatively metal-poor environment. When interpreted with respect to models for Galactic chemical evolution, the carbon isotopic composition implies that 3I/ATLAS may have accreted as long ago as 12 billion years, following a period of intense, early star formation. 3I/ATLAS thus represents a preserved fragment of an ancient planetary system.
SN  - 0028-0836
SN  - 1476-4687
ER  -