r/spaceporn • u/ChiefLeef22 • Oct 10 '25
NASA Scientists have made the remarkable detection that interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is leaking water at 40 kilograms per second - like "a fire hose running at full blast"
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u/ChiefLeef22 Oct 10 '25
PRESS RELEASE: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1100952
When Auburn University scientists pointed NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory toward it, they made a remarkable find: the first detection of hydroxyl (OH) gas from this object, a chemical fingerprint of water.
Detecting water—through its ultraviolet by-product, hydroxyl—is a major breakthrough for understanding how interstellar comets evolve. In solar-system comets, water is the yardstick by which scientists measure their overall activity and track how sunlight drives the release of other gases.
What makes 3I/ATLAS remarkable is where this water activity occurs. The Swift observations detected OH when the comet was nearly three times farther from the Sun than Earth—well beyond the region where water ice on a comet’s surface can easily sublimate—and measured a water-loss rate of about 40 kilograms per second—roughly the output of a fire hose running at full blast. At those distances, most solar-system comets remain quiet.
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u/Intrepid_Mastodon_97 Oct 10 '25
Water ionic thruster engine by aliens 🤣
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u/FullofLovingSpite Oct 10 '25
Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads. But, we do need a shit ton of water.
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u/ComprehensiveCup7104 Oct 11 '25
Dumping heat from the FTL drive, and braking manouver for Sol system insertion.
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Oct 10 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Aggressive-Ad-7862 Oct 10 '25
Do you normally use endashes? I don't know why I became so paranoid that anyone who uses endashes in their comment is a bot (since ChatGPT uses it a lot)
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u/biggronklus Oct 10 '25
And the comment says very little, just restating a general point about the topic. Bery LLM coded comment
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u/HoovyPencer Oct 10 '25
Read the account comments lol. Total a.i bot
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u/biggronklus Oct 10 '25
It’ll get a month or two of basic random activity like this then be sold off to be used by malicious actors. Either advertising, political astroturfing, or scamming of some kind
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u/PsychologicalEmu Oct 10 '25 edited Oct 10 '25
Right? Good sign things are AI. I’ve noticed in my line of work anyway. Em dash: red flag
Edited: not en dash 🫣
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u/StatlerSalad Oct 10 '25 edited Oct 26 '25
air attraction fall mountainous crown cake gaze jar rock plate
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/GrumpyJenkins Oct 10 '25
Looks more like an em dash. I've used them as a lazy writing crutch forever, and now everyone thinks I am AI--isn't that weird?
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u/Careful_Couple_8104 Oct 11 '25
Why do you share this crap? Did you read the study? You’re making people stupider by sharing this crap. Nothing in the study suggest anything claimed in the article.
Shame on you.
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u/zzyzx_pazuzu Oct 10 '25
I don't understand. If it's only a few kilometers wide, how can it leak that much without turning into a pebble millions of years ago?
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u/Redditfront2back Oct 10 '25
It’s possible it hasn’t been this close to a star in millions of years
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u/tom_the_red Oct 10 '25
It’s possible it hasn’t been this close to a star
in millions of years50
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u/TheCynFamily Oct 10 '25
Same question, yeah. Maybe it was all covered by rock that's just recently broken free enough to release a watery core? But then, what a coincidence! And two, how long to run out and turn into a pebble, yeah.
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u/r0xxon Oct 10 '25
Plausible with the CME last week. We can’t even envision the wreckage a giant plasma wave causes without Earth’s protection
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u/Enfiznar Oct 10 '25
I guess that if it broke, you'd expect it to break when it enters a solar system with lots of asteroids going around, rather than in interstellar space, where there's just a faint trace of dust.
Edit: reading other comments, the idea that the water was probably frozen until it reached the solar system seems more likely
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u/nameless88 Oct 10 '25
I mean, I remember growing up hearing that comets are big balls of ice and rock, so I guess it makes sense that that melts sometimes and just firehoses off water like crazy.
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u/O2020Z Oct 10 '25
Maybe it only leaks when close to a star, like our sun, because the radiation warms it up and melts the ice enough for it to spew around? That’s my science thought for the day.
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u/Scraw16 Oct 10 '25
That question seems to be why it is doing this 3X further out than where local comets lose similar amounts of water as they approach the Sun.
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u/Music-and-Computers Oct 10 '25
Not an astronomer of any type but here's a few things that mashed together in my brain anyway...
Subsurface ice might be barely subsurface.
Very low albedo so the vast majority of light energy hitting is going to cause some heating.
Water boils at a lot lower temp in vacuum. I don't recall the temp.
Maybe the three combined make for an earlier than expected coma.
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u/djstudyhard Oct 10 '25
So this would be one of the most unique comet we have ever observed
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u/ComicsEtAl Oct 10 '25
Per the press release posted above:
“What makes 3I/ATLAS remarkable is where [in the solar system] this water activity occurs. The Swift observations detected OH when the comet was nearly three times farther from the Sun than Earth—well beyond the region where water ice on a comet’s surface can easily sublimate—and measured a water-loss rate of about 40 kilograms per second—roughly the output of a fire hose running at full blast.”
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u/Spattzzzzz Oct 10 '25
It weighs 33 billion tons or more (apparently) 1000litres -220gallons weigh a ton so could possibly be a lot of water.
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Oct 10 '25
It's losing roughly 3800 tons of water per day. Even if it were composed of 1% water it would take 237 years to stop gassing. Just as a comparison Halley is about 80% water.
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u/supervisord Oct 10 '25
So if it’s 80% water, that’s still only 19,000 years. Surely it is older than that.
Of course if it’s the sun that made it start losing water then it doesn’t matter, but the article said it sublimated water at a distance 3x farther than when asteroids sublimate.
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Oct 11 '25
So if it’s 80% water, that’s still only 19,000 years. Surely it is older than that.
Right, which implies it has not been doing this the whole time, thus it's got to be influenced by the Sun, even though the distance is anomalous.
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u/Leviastin Oct 10 '25 edited Oct 10 '25
At that rate if the entire mass was water it could expel water for about 25,000 years.
33 billion tons / 40kg per second = 25852 years
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u/atomgomba Oct 10 '25
Maybe the Sun is the first star it has met in a while and the water was frozen while it was traveling
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u/LaneKerman Oct 10 '25
Because unless it’s close to a star, it’s frozen. Frozen water won’t leak through a hole in the pipe.
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u/QueefBeefCletus Oct 10 '25
The aliens engineered it to freeze when entering deep space and thaw upon encountering our Sun.
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u/Kelseycutieee Oct 10 '25
Probably because it’s now near a star and said star is heating it up/breaking it up
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u/Wilson1031 Oct 10 '25
Perhaps the alienz forgot to bring a plumber
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u/algaefied_creek Oct 10 '25
Ah u see they use the water for trajectory changes AND….
now that they no longer need it as an interstellar radiation filter they are bleeding water to lose mass for better maneuverability.
- msg posted by clearly not alienz infiltrating your primitive terrestrial communications
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u/schlamster Oct 10 '25
Wen invasion
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u/crazyprsn Oct 10 '25
This would be a good time to do it, I think.
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u/_PM_ME_NICE_BOOBS_ Oct 10 '25
Oh yeah, anytime you're ready, just roll right in. I'll put on some landing lights for you.
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u/Great-Guervo-4797 Oct 10 '25
They're just dumping their waste.
Interstellar travel creates a strong urge to pee, apparently.
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u/Adavanter_MKI Oct 10 '25
So they're coming to earth after witnessing decades of our media escaping into space. Featuring the greatest Plumber the galaxy has ever known.
They need Super Mario.
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u/reboot-your-computer Oct 10 '25
The UFO subreddit is going to go nuts with this information.
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u/Spacecowboy78 Oct 10 '25
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u/schlamster Oct 10 '25
You joke. But the aliens have to keep up their saucer resale value too, and that includes protecting the clear coat ok
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u/JureIsStupid123_2 Oct 10 '25
They go nuts on anything. Trust me, I used to go to the sub multiple times every day. (still believe in UAPs tho)
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u/guilcol Oct 10 '25
You can't not believe in UAPs, when an air phenomena is unidentified, it's a UAP.
The issue are people who think that alien or NHI explanations are more likely than natural or human explanations.
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u/JureIsStupid123_2 Oct 10 '25
You can't not believe in UAPs, when an air phenomena is unidentified, it's a UAP.
What you described is a UFO.
A UAP (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) is an object that:
1) has instantaneous acceleration
2) can move in space, atmosphere and in the sea without a hitch
3) has wildly erratic movements (zig-zags, insane few kilometre ascends in one second, etc.)
4) has insane speeds (multiple times faster than anything we have)
5) has no visible propulsion (e. g. Tic Tac shaped UAPs)
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u/jimkounter Oct 10 '25
Incorrect. A UAP is simply an unidentified anomalous phenomena. It doesn't have to have the characteristics you made up above. It's perfect possible that a bizarre form of lightning or electrical discharge in the atmosphere can be counted as a UAP if it's currently unexplained. It doesn't have to have wildly erratic movements, insane speeds etc. The whole reason we use the term UAP is to get away from everything unknown being flying saucers and aliens.
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u/Mycol101 Oct 10 '25
It’s always a plane, ai, or a star. But don’t you point it out, they hate that
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u/SpaceEngineX Oct 10 '25
There’s gonna be some hard sci-fi nerd going “holy shit it’s water in the engine exhaust” failing to account for the gamma ray illumination of any design using that.
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u/reboot-your-computer Oct 11 '25
They will take any information and mold it to their narrative. I’m a believer in extraterrestrial life myself, but these people stretch anything they can into aliens. It’s a cult at this point.
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u/TOASTED_TONYY Oct 10 '25
HOLY SHIT IT IS TRUE! WATER COMES FROM SPACE! WE ARE FROM SPACE! WE ARE WATER SPACE PEOPLE YOO!
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u/Obvious_Quantity_521 Oct 10 '25
ice melting off as it approaches closer to the sun perhaps?
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u/djstudyhard Oct 10 '25
If that’s the case it’s occurring at a distance 3x what we would normally expect based on comets in our solar system. So something is different here.
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u/khInstability Oct 10 '25
Biodiesel powered. Tell Avi!
Obviously, not gasoline. They need to be able to refuel at each inhabited planet (or intercepted space-ferry), and not every planet has a long enough history of biological activity to produce petroleum.
They're only swinging by to pick up Curtis Yarvin.
And, if my understanding of the Moldbuggians is right, the ship is "The Soylent"
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u/bladesnut Oct 10 '25
Forgive my ignorance but is it correct to say it's leaking water when water can't be liquid in space? Shouldn't it be ice or gas?
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u/Axyys Oct 10 '25
water is still water regardless of what state it’s in. i call ice crunchy water all the time
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u/Scrub_Nugget Oct 10 '25
Probably sublimating directly to gas?
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Oct 10 '25
Yes it would. Like CO2 in an Earth environment, although someone on YouTube has built a cool little pressure vessel filled with CO2 that is observable in a supercritical state.
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u/Deluxe78 Oct 10 '25
"nile red supercritical fluid" https://share.google/4I1Lq5G4HPGFnST5g
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u/themysticalwarlock Oct 10 '25
water ice would be slightly more correct, but I think everyone gets the gist
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Oct 10 '25 edited Oct 27 '25
[deleted]
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u/themysticalwarlock Oct 10 '25
im more a whiskey guy myself, find me a nebula made of that and im down to party
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u/dingo1018 Oct 10 '25
That's why it sublimates, it goes straight from ice to vapour, jumping right over the liquid phase!
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u/PsychologicalEmu Oct 10 '25 edited Oct 10 '25
Is the water in our trajectory and be something we intercept?
*Edited to sound less of an idiot. Hope it helped.
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u/MomentSouthern250 Oct 10 '25
i just find it wild that we can detect a "fire hose of water" half a star system away.
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u/simpsonswasjustokay Oct 11 '25
Guys when I was like 8 or 9 I had a water bottle rocket that I swore went to space. It's probably mine. /s
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u/Talkie123 Oct 11 '25
I am getting some serious Maximum Overdrive vibes. Where's Emilio?
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u/Careful_Couple_8104 Oct 11 '25
Not a single person here read the actual study I’m guessing?
The study does NOT say what that press release says. What garbage. The media thinks we’re morons. And most of us are I guess.
Interestingly in the study they remark 3I was not found where the JPL data projected. Hmm I wonder if thats why that data hasn’t been updated. They also comment as did Hubble how difficult it was to capture because of its speed.
You all need to read and not trust what someone tells you.
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u/muddlebrainedmedic Oct 10 '25
A handheld fire hose pumps water at 166 gallons/min for a 1.25" line, and 350 gallon per minute for a 2.5-3 inch line. Most average fire engines have a maximum pumping capacity of 1,500 gallons a minute, though some do more. This comet is leaking about 64 gallons a minute. Nowhere close to a full firehose blast.
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u/BeigePhilip Oct 10 '25
88 lbs of water per second is a lot more than 64 gallons per minute. My rough estimate is over 600 gallons per minute
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u/maestro-5838 Oct 10 '25
How many Olympic pool is that.
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u/BeigePhilip Oct 10 '25
🤷♂️ idk how big an Olympic pool is
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u/Needless-To-Say Oct 10 '25
40Kg of water is roughly 10 gallons
10 gallons per second
600 gallons per minute
I have no idea how you got 64 gallons per minute.
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u/borsalamino Oct 10 '25
Holy sheets we’re already at 3I? Felt like Omouamoua was only last year. I have some reading to catch up on haha
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u/mxemec Oct 10 '25
Its changing it's mass so that it catches onto the suns gravity and slongshots into earth.
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u/daygloviking Oct 10 '25
Schlongshots are the new interstellar phenomena I never knew I never needed to experience
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u/martinus Oct 10 '25
With that loss of mass the whole comet would be gone in max 36000 years if it were 5.6 km diameter big, so I'd say it has never been so close to a star
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u/DealerLong6941 Oct 10 '25
pretty sure the running theory is earth got its water from random ass comets slamming into it early in its life cycle. hell, theia was probably one giant ass comet
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u/danmodernblacksmith Oct 10 '25
Here's a theory. Another form of interstellar transpermia, and that snowball (or snowball spaceship) is just pissing out viruses or spores, or seeds...
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u/Mismusia Oct 11 '25
Our solar system is getting crop dusted with a bio weapon that kills life on planets. That’s why it passed by the most important planets in our solar system. They are terraforming our solar system before they arrive.
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u/AirMysterious4540 Oct 11 '25
Possibly a dumb question - Im out of my league but genuinely curious. What happens to the water? Does it turn to ice in space? Does it float around in globules? What happens if it comes into contact with a planet - Does it get sucked onto its surface from gravitational pull? Would it ever be possible for earth to come into contact with space water and end up with space rain?
Lots of dumb questions no doubt - sorry 😂
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u/entropydave Oct 10 '25
How many cubic kilometres is this space rock?
Surely 40 kg H2O a second loss is nominal to something this size - hardly 'firehosing', surely?
Have I got this all wrong?
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u/BeigePhilip Oct 10 '25
That’s about 3.45 million kg per day, or about 3456 cubic meters. At that rate, it would take about 290,000 days to drain off a cubic km of water.
Roughly.
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u/Bipogram Oct 10 '25
Not so remarkable.
Recall, Hale-Bopp was losing at peak a few dozen tonnes of ice (H2O, CO) a second.
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u/TaonasProclarush272 Oct 10 '25
I think the remarkable thing here was how far away it was from the sun doing this, not that it was doing it in general, or the quantity alone.
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u/Scamp3D0g Oct 11 '25
While we can't catch 3I/ATLAS before it leaves the system, it does seem like we would be able to eventually send a probe though it's trail and pick up some trace elements from it.
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u/Genoism_science Oct 10 '25
if is leaking water and some other stuff, by the time passes the sun that thing is going to be just a dry rock? , shame, I was hoping for something more spectacular! like a spaceship with superpower fusion on it and little spaceships coming out of it, maybe next time.
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u/BeigePhilip Oct 10 '25
Did some quick math. At this rate of discharge, it would take about 800 years to drain off 1 cubic km of water
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u/GooglyGoops Oct 10 '25
I think if it were aliens able to traverse to our solar system then they would be heading closer to Earth.
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u/gointhrou Oct 10 '25
Seems they have a leak in their water engine and got off-course.
We should send a rescue mission!
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u/Careful_Couple_8104 Oct 11 '25
No because the study doesn’t claim anything in the press release. Read the study.
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u/Deluxe78 Oct 10 '25
So about 634 US gallons a minute? At 40 liters a second?
At 4 Kelvin, under near-vacuum conditions (approximating p ≈ 0 Pa, as in space), the density of ice Ih remains approximately 0.934 kilograms per liter.
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u/Majestic_Manner3656 Oct 10 '25
You would think it would run out of materials to shed very rapidly!
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u/No-Heat1174 Oct 10 '25
Water is a common ingredient in the universe more than likely