3I/ATLAS: A Methanol-Rich Interstellar Comet Revealing Diverse Organics and Clues to Planetary Chemistry

To the point

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is unusually methanol-rich, with methanol-to-HCN ratios around 70–120 much higher than in most Solar System comets, indicating methanol comes from both the nucleus and icy grains while HCN mainly comes from the nucleus, plus unexpected organic molecules and dust and hints from JWST that CO2 dominates farther from the Sun, a fingerprint from another solar system Nathan Roth says reveals different conditions and a window into distant planetary chemistry.