James Webb Space Telescope Space Exploration & Science Missions

JWST finds record deuterium-rich methane in interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope detected the most deuterium-rich methane measured in the Solar System in 3I/ATLAS, the third known interstellar object. The finding suggests the comet’s ices formed in a cold, distant, low-metallicity environment, offering clues to the conditions where material around other stars originated.

Discovered 2026-11-05T04:28:35.246543-08:00 | 2026-11-05T04:28:35.246543-08:00

Briefing

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The methane’s unusually high deuterium content provides evidence about the cold, low-metallicity environment in which 3I/ATLAS’s ices formed, giving researchers a rare probe of material from beyond the Solar System.
As the third known interstellar object, 3I/ATLAS offers an opportunity to compare the chemistry of another star system with Solar System bodies; the detection was made using the James Webb Space Telescope.

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