NASA Detects Water Vapor on 7-Billion-Year-Old Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory detected water vapor streaming off the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, marking a significant finding since this comet is the third interstellar comet observed and is about 7 billion years old, twice the age of Earth. The comet was found losing water at a rate not typical for such a distance from the Sun, revealing unusual activity. Meanwhile, researchers analyzing 3.7-billion-year-old rocks in Australia provided new insights into Earth's early crust formation and the Moon's origins, supporting the giant impact hypothesis where a collision with early Earth created the Moon. The study showed continents began growing around 3.5 billion years ago, a billion years after Earth formed, and found compositional similarities between Earth's and Moon's anorthosites. Additionally, a new study on the Moon's South Pole-Aitken basin revealed it was formed by an asteroid impact from the north, not the south as previously thought, making the Artemis missions' planned landing site ideal for studying lunar history and material excavated from deep within the Moon.