Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is bursting with methanol

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS contains exceptionally high levels of methanol, suggesting it formed under conditions very different from those that shaped most comets in our solar system. ALMA also revealed that tiny icy grains around the comet are releasing methanol like miniature comets, giving astronomers an unusually detailed look at an object from another star system. Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is bursting with methanol.

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is bursting with methanol Science News from research organizations Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is bursting with methanol Date: September 9, 2026. On the side of the comet closer to the Sun, the methanol gas is shown in blue, with icy dust grains still present in the gas. On the dark side of the comet, the hydrogen cyanide is shown in orange.

Weiss Comet 3I/ATLAS is continuing to surprise astronomers. New observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), of which the U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) is a partner, show that the interstellar visitor contains an unusually large amount of methanol.

In fact, its methanol abundance exceeds that seen in almost all known comets from our own solar system.