Oldest Comet from Cold, Starless Region

0:00Astronomers just revealed that comet 3, i-slash Atlas, the third confirmed visitor from outside our solar system likely came from a super cold. Lonely spot in the galaxy that never even formed its own stars or planets. This icy wanderer could be up to 11 billion years old, more than twice the sun's age, making it one of the oldest objects we've ever spotted. Discovered last summer, its zipped past Mars in October, came closest to Earth in December, and now its cruising beyond Jupiter, heading out of hour. Solar system forever at 137,000 miles per hour, only pros with big telescopes can see it now. This one's different from the first two interstellar guests, Oumuamua back in 2017, and Borosov in 2019. Its nucleus measures between a quarter mile and 3.5 miles across, and teams worldwide, including NASA and the European Space Agency. They maintain their scopes on it. A University of Michigan-led squad used the Elima Observatory in Chile's Atacama Desert

1:03to scan its water last fall. They found crazy high levels of deuterium, that heavy hydrogen isotope pointing to an origin way colder than our neighborhood, probably around a solo. Star with no hot neighbors to warm things up, piecing these clues together helps us picture planet building in the universe's early days, showing how isolated spots stayed frosty while others. Partied with newborn stars, this has been Canada News Today, Power by AI.