--- title: "3I/ATLAS Appears to Be Erupting in Ice Volcanos" description: "Astronomers have found that the surface of 3I/ATLAS' nucleus could be dotted with erupting \"ice volcanoes.\"" date: "2025-12-02" modified: "2025-12-02" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/space/3i-atlas-erupting-ice-volcanos" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Off-World" - "Space" --- # 3I/ATLAS Appears to Be Erupting in Ice Volcanos ![Astronomers have found that the surface of 3I/ATLAS' nucleus could be dotted with erupting "ice volcanoes."]() *Getty Images* Mysterious interstellar object 3I/ATLAS [reached its perihelion](), or its closest point to the Sun, earlier this year, shedding copious amounts of ice and dust in the process. The material has [formed enormous jets]() that reach out like a tail behind the visitor, which is [widely believed to be a comet]() — and even an "[anti-tail]()" that faces the Sun. It's such a violent process, astronomers have found that the surface of 3I/ATLAS' nucleus could be dotted with erupting "ice volcanoes," as [*Live Science* reports](). They posit that could make the visitor surprisingly similar to [trans-Neptunian objects](), faint chunks of rock and ice that form in the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune's orbit. "We were all surprised," Josep Trigo-Rodríguez, lead author of a [yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper]() and staff researcher at the Institute of Space Sciences in Spain, told *Live Science*. "Being a comet formed in a remote planetary system, it is remarkable that the mixture of materials forming the surface of the body has resemblance with trans-Neptunian objects, bodies formed at \[a\] large distance from the Sun but belonging to our planetary system." Trigo-Rodríguez and his colleagues used the Joan Oró Telescope at the Montsec Observatory in Spain to carefully study 3I/ATLAS' perihelion in late October, a point at which solar system comets usually release the largest amount of material as they're heated up by the Sun. The team observed detailed images of jets of gas and dust particles being released, concluding that 3I/ATLAS was showing signs of cryovolcanism. Other planetary bodies, like trans-Neptunian objects, also frequently feature cryovolcanoes, caused by an internal heat source that causes ice to sublimate and spew vapor into space. Trigo-Rodríguez and his colleagues suggest in their paper that sublimating carbon dioxide ice inside 3I/ATLAS may be reacting with metals, like nickel and iron sulfides, in its core, causing them to oxidize and thereby powering the object's cryovolcanism. Yet plenty of questions remain. For one, we don't even know the exact mass of 3I/ATLAS; scientists have estimated that it could measure anywhere from 1,400 feet to [3.5 miles across](). Studying interstellar objects traveling through the solar system is an exceedingly rare opportunity that we shouldn't take for granted. 3I/ATLAS is expected to reach its closest point to Earth later this month and [Jupiter in March 2026](). "Interstellar visitors like 3I/ATLAS continue to challenge and refine our understanding of planetary-system formation and the chemical evolution of small bodies," Trigo-Rodríguez and his fellow team members concluded in their paper. "Each newly discovered object reveals unexpected properties that test and expand current models." "Future intercept missions will be essential for visiting, and directly sampling these rare messengers and unlocking the record they carry from distant planetary systems," they added. **More on 3I/ATLAS:** [*The Mysterious Interstellar Object Appears to Be Pulsing in a “Heartbeat Pattern”*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()