Comet 3I/Atlas continues to be full of surprises. As well as being only the third interstellar object ever detected, new analysis shows it is producing hydroxyl (OH) emissions, with these compounds betraying the presence of water on its surface. This discovery was made by a team of researchers at Auburn University in Alabama using NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, and was described in a study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Hydroxyl compounds are detectable via the ultraviolet signature they produce. But on Earth, a lot of UV wavelengths are blocked by the atmosphere, which is why the researchers had to use the Neil