More than twice as old as the Sun!? VLT closes in on the true nature of the mysterious interstellar comet "3I/ATLAS"

Explanation

The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) conducted a detailed analysis of "3I/ATLAS," an interstellar object that came from outside the solar system. Examining the carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of cyanide compounds contained in the comet's gas, researchers found distinctive values that differ greatly from comets in the solar system. This result indicates that 3I/ATLAS was born in an old stellar system poor in heavy elements, leading researchers to conclude that the object is more than twice as old as the Sun—essentially a "fossil of planet formation." It is a valuable clue that tells us about the state of the universe long before our solar system was formed.