Overview
- A NASA Goddard–led team using ALMA reports abundant methanol and measurable hydrogen cyanide in 3I/ATLAS, based on a paper not yet peer reviewed.
- About eight percent of the object's vapor appears to be methanol—roughly four times typical comet levels—placing both molecules among the most enriched ever measured.
- Analysis indicates these gases originate from the nucleus, with methanol also detected in the surrounding coma.
- ESA’s Juice spacecraft recently imaged two tails and strong sublimation after perihelion, reinforcing evidence of active cometary behavior.
- Public commentary from Avi Loeb frames the high methanol-to-HCN ratio as potentially life-seeding and, more speculatively, consistent with artificial activity, while further data from JWST this month and a Juice dataset in February 2026 are expected to clarify the picture.