CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The comet that rambled past us from another star last year likely originated in a cold, isolated corner of the galaxy that had yet to gel into its own solar system, astronomers reported Thursday.
Comet 3I/Atlas is only the third interstellar visitor to be confirmed and quite possibly the oldest. Scientists estimate it could be up to 11 billion years old, more than twice as old as the sun.
A team led by the University of Michigan used the ALMA observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert to examine the comet last fall. The errant but harmless iceball was discovered last summer, giving NASA and the European Space Agency plenty of time to aim multiple space telescopes at it as it zoomed past Mars in October and made its closest approach to Earth in December. It's now well past Jupiter on its way out of our solar system for good, still visible only to the professionals.
In the study, scientists said they detected extremely high amounts of deuterium, or heavy hydrogen, in the comet's water. That suggests that the comet originated in a place considerably colder — before the star of this solar system even formed — than our own cosmic neighborhood, said the University of Michigan's Teresa Paneque-Carreno.
While our sun may have been surrounded by other newborn stars as it was forming, she noted, this comet's home star could have been more of a loner, leading to less heating and colder conditions.
The findings were published in Nature Astronomy.
The comet's precise place of origin is still unknown. Observations by the Hubble Space Telescope put the size of its nucleus somewhere between a quarter-mile and 3.5 miles (440 meters and 5.6 kilometers). It's hurtling away at 137,000 mph (220,000 kph).
Linking all these “puzzle pieces together may give an idea to how the planet-forming conditions were at these early times,” Paneque-Carreno said in an email.
The first known interstellar object to stray into our celestial backyard — Oumuamua — was discovered by a telescope in Hawaii in 2017. Comet 2I/Borisov followed in 2019, named for the Crimean amateur astronomer who first spotted it.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
FILE - This image, provided by NASA, shows the interstellar comet 3I/Atlas captured by the Hubble Space Telescope on Nov. 30, 2025, about 178 million miles (286 million kilometers) from Earth. (NASA, ESA, STScI, D. Jewitt (UCLA), M.-T. Hui (Shanghai Astronomical Observatory), J. DePasquale (STScI) via AP, File)
GENEVA, Switzerland (AP) — An Iranian government spokesperson says the men’s national team is preparing for “proud and successful participation” in its World Cup games in the United States.
Iran’s ability and willingness to go to the World Cup across north America starting June 11 has been unclear since the U.S. and Israel launched military attacks Feb. 28.
“The Ministry of Youth and Sports made an announcement about the full preparedness of our national soccer team for presence in the 2026 World Cup in the U.S., by the order of the minister,” Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohejerani told Iran’s state TV on Wednesday.
FIFA has consistently said Iran will stick to the World Cup game schedule decided last December, and refused to negotiate any suggestion of playing the team’s games in Mexico.
Progress was made March 31 when FIFA President Gianni Infantino went to meet Iranian soccer leaders and players in Turkey where the team had two warmup games.
Though the Iranian soccer league has shut down during the war, the team’s official Instagram account posted photos this week of a practice in Tehran.
Mohejerani added Wednesday “the necessary arrangements that these dear ones need for the team’s proud and successful participation, (have been made).”
Infantino promised the Iranian team three weeks ago he would help find a training camp outside of the country for the team to prepare for the World Cup. That could also be in Turkey, where Iran played warmup games last month in Antalya against Nigeria and Costa Rica.
FIFA did not immediately confirm details Wednesday of a possible camp being organized.
Iran is scheduled to play two group-stage games at the Los Angeles Rams’ stadium in Inglewood — against New Zealand and Belgium — then face Egypt in Seattle.
The team is due to arrive at its training camp in Tucson, Arizona no later than June 10, which is at least five days before its first game as required by FIFA’s World Cup rules.
A key issue to be resolved is the U.S. government giving entry visas to the Iranian delegation including soccer federation president Mehdi Taj. He is a vice president of the Asian soccer body who was barred from attending the World Cup draw in December in Washington D.C., where Infantino presented U.S. President Donald Trump with the specially created FIFA Peace Prize.
Mexico and Canada are co-hosting the 48-nation tournament that runs through July 19.
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
FILE - Iran's Mehdi Taremi shoots a penalty kick to score his side's second goal during a friendly soccer match between Iran and Costa Rica, in Antalya, southern Turkey, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Riza Ozel, File)
