The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS reached its closest point to Earth today, offering scientists a rare window into the chemistry of a distant star system. Moving at approximately 40 kilometers per second, the comet is only the third interstellar object ever detected passing through our solar system. Data from the James Webb Space Telescope indicates that 3I/ATLAS has a significantly higher carbon-to-oxygen ratio than typical comets from our Oort Cloud, suggesting it originated in a carbon-rich protoplanetary disk.
