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Space
Space
Science
Samantha Mathewson

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is 'bursting with methanol,' new study finds

Ethanol Solar System 3IAtlas Alcohol Alma
An artist's impression of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, with methanol (blue) flowing from both its nucleus and icy grains in the coma, while hydrogen cyanide (orange) is released mainly from the nucleus.

Astronomers studying the interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS have discovered the comet is unusually rich in alcohol — a chemical clue that could reveal how planets and icy bodies form around other stars.

Using the powerful radio antennas of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, researchers detected extremely strong signals of methanol (CH3OH), a simple alcohol molecule, in the comet's expanding cloud of gas.

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