An interstellar comet observed last year may predate our solar system by billions of years, traveling on extraordinary galactic paths unlike anything previously encountered.
3I/Atlas could be up to 12 billion years old
Jun 23, 2026
01:07 pm
What's the storyAstronomers have discovered that the interstellar comet 3I/Atlas could be nearly three times older than our solar system.
The finding was made by studying the chemical elements of the comet with powerful telescopes, including NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile.
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is much older than the solar system itself
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Interstellar comet likely far older than Solar System, say astronomers
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