At https://dailygalaxy.com/2025/10/tokyo-sized-interstellar-object-3i-atlas-emits-rare-metal-alloy-never-observed-in-nature-harvard-says/…. Comet 31/ATLAS is even odder than previously thought, it would seem. Although it behaves like other interstellar interlopers, but not entirely so, such as moving very fast, it also has a gaseous envelope around it. This indicates volatile ices are being shed. Using high resolution spectroscopy astronomers detected nickel tetracarbonyl, a toxic organic metallic gas. It is used in industrial metallurgy – but until now had never been found in space. To make it requires the metal nickel and some carbon monoxide gas – plus a range of pressures and temperatures. For more information on this subject go to https://arxiv.org/pdf/2510.11779 …
Unlike typical comets which grow long luminous tails that draw energy from the Sun, 31/ATLAS doesn’t have one. Not in the strictest sense. Instead, it is ejecting material towards the Sun, rather than away from the Sun. The stream of material is composed, we are told, from carbon dioxide and water vapour. It also has trace amounts of other ingredients such as cyanide and nickel. There is no iron, a peculiarity noticed by some scientists. In the US there is a government shutdown organised by US politicians opposed to the administration. The same thing happened during the last Trump presidency so it could go on for months – and months. This is not good news for astronomers as on October 4th 31/ATLAS passed within 12 million miles of Mars. This wil have provided an extraordinary opportunity for observation – using NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. As a result of the shutdown any image taken cannot be released.