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3I/ATLAS Is Emitting Nickel But Something Doesn't Add Up

2025-09-07 Science & Technology
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Anton Petrov
Anton Petrov
1.6m subscribers

Updates: Confirmed Nickel, Missing Iron in Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

Analyze the latest JWST and VLT findings for interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, focusing on definitively observed atomic nickel emissions and the critical mystery of absent iron.

Short Summary

  • Confirm 3I/ATLAS shows an unprecedented 8-to-1 ratio of carbon dioxide ($\text{CO}_2$) to water, originating from a composition shaped by a distant, possibly older star system.
  • Atomic nickel emissions are confirmed, suggesting release via the photodissociation of volatile nickel carbonyls near the comet’s surface.
  • The major scientific anomaly is the complete absence of detectable iron emissions, challenging current models for metal release from primitive comets.
  • The discussion intentionally filters out speculative claims, emphasizing data showing that cometary chemistry varies significantly across the galaxy.

This analysis grounds the science behind the third confirmed interstellar object, revealing major insights into distant stellar system formation and the implications for potential interstellar material exchange.

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Description

Support this channel on Patreon to help me make this a full time job: https://www.patreon.com/whatdamath (Unreleased videos, extra footage, DMs, no ads) Alternatively, PayPal donations can be sent here: http://paypal.me/whatdamath Get a Wonderful Person Tee: https://teespring.com/stores/whatdamath More cool designs are on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3QFIrFX Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about new updates from the 3I/ATLAS comet - emissions of Nickel are confirmed but where is Iron? Links: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2508.18382 https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.18209 https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2108/ Previous videos: https://youtu.be/21HSmydkxaE https://youtu.be/IRAQFWnY6uI #3iatlas #comet #astronomy 0:00 3I/ATLAS updates 2:30 What was discovered so far 4:40 JWST Observations 5:50 What this means 7:10 Nickel emissions 9:08 Major mystery with iron 10:00 Possible explanations and what's next? 11:30 Conclusions Enjoy and please subscribe Bitcoin/Ethereum to spare? Donate them here to help this channel grow! bc1qnkl3nk0zt7w0xzrgur9pnkcduj7a3xxllcn7d4 or ETH: 0x60f088B10b03115405d313f964BeA93eF0Bd3DbF Thank you to all Patreon supporters of this channel Special thanks also goes to all the wonderful supporters of the channel through YouTube Memberships Credit: Prof Mark J. Winter (Department of Chemistry, The University of Sheffield) https://winter.group.shef.ac.uk/webelements/compounds/nickel/nickel_tetracarbonyl.html CSS, D. Rankin; Video recorded and edited by User:Renerpho - https://neofixer.arizona.edu/css-orbit-view CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3I/ATLAS#/media/File:3I_ATLAS_animation3.gif Christopher Michel CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avi_Loeb#/media/File:Avi_Loeb_in_2023_02.jpg Licenses used: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ and relevant Creative Commons licenses

Top Comments (10)

@I.amthatrealJuan 2025-09-07

You know Anton has gained enough credibility as a communicator for scientists to personally reach out to him beforehand in order to clarify what's in their research that he'll present.

1.2k 93 replies
@charlesblithfield6182 2025-09-07

It’s impressive IMO that some astronomers reached out to you Anton to clarify their study for the public. It speaks to the respect they must have for your work as a science communicator and educator.

974 30 replies
@AxionSmurf 2025-09-07

Imagine how many comets visited the sol system long before there was a single human

517 68 replies
@bb5979 2025-09-07

Closest thing were gonna get to an Anton diss track

309 16 replies
@kevinbull9284 2025-09-08

Congratulations Anton on reaching 1.5 million subscribers!

199 2 replies
@whatdamath 2025-09-08

for another take on the Avi Loeb and the comet saga check out this great video from the friend of the channel Dr David Kipping https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFTHrdbeQYs

108 75 replies
@Camcolito 2025-09-10

If I had some nickel for every time 3I/ATLAS emitted nickel, I'd have a lot of nickel.

36
@2012GSCFM 2025-09-10

The smartest thing I've heard about this since it was made public! Thank you!!!!

11
@LaGuerre19 2025-09-09

This is why you're the only you-tuber that I support on Patreon, Anton. I doubt that there is a single human alive that would not like this to be an alien spacecraft, but that's feeling; that's not science. Yes, that would be a really cool thing. No, there's no evidence to support that hypothesis: it falls to pieces because there's nothing there. Thank you for sticking to facts and the scientific method and the peer review process, Anton. It gladdens me to see you getting the respect you deserve for the hard work in creating these solid foundational SCIENTIFIC videos. You're never trying to sell or hawk something. You are just sharing knowledge. You rock, Anton.

7 1 replies
@jmeg1468 2025-09-09

Thank you anton petrov for commenting on this atlas. As many others i trust your word and logic and like your input. Plase keep up the education.

6

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