Aug. 27 (UPI) -- NASA observed interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS through the lens of the James Webb Space Telescope for the first time.
On Aug. 6, the telescope with its near-infrared Spectrograph instrument analyzed the comet as it provided more information about its size, physical properties, and chemical makeup.
This kind of observation can help make clear what conditions were like in the systems where comets like 3I/ATLAS was formed.
3I/ATLAS is outgassing as it approaches the sun, which was speculated that it would.
Astronomers identified it as made of carbon dioxide, water, water ice, carbon monoxide, and the smell gas carbon sulfide.
