# Carbon isotopes date the ices to 10 to 12 billion years ago

> The JWST team reads the high carbon-13 ratios as material accreted 10 to 12 billion years ago, before the Galaxy's carbon-13 had built up, an age…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/3i-atlas/evidence/EVD0DFQ52T02NDX/carbon-isotopes-date-the-ices-to-10-to-12-billion-years-ago  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

---

[3I/ATLAS](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/3i-atlas)Evidence

Evidence · 3I/ATLAS

# Carbon isotopes date the ices to 10 to 12 billion years ago

The JWST team reads the high carbon-13 ratios as material accreted 10 to 12 billion years ago, before the Galaxy's carbon-13 had built up, an age estimate independent of the orbit.

Suggestive0

## What it means

Key question[Where in the Galaxy, and how long ago, did 3I/ATLAS form?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/3i-atlas/questions/QST0DFQ0MTPD0FX/where-in-the-galaxy-and-how-long-ago-did-3i-atlas-form)

2 answers, none ahead yet

**Open** unchanged

Answer this evidence bears on[An old thick-disc body, older than the Sun](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/3i-atlas/answers/ANS0DFQ30WEZNY9/an-old-thick-disc-body-older-than-the-sun)

Supports2 for, none against

**Still possible** unchanged

What it implies
1.

Chemistry and kinematics agree on great age.For the key question: Where in the Galaxy, and how long ago, did 3I/ATLAS form?

## Next steps 1

1

Repeat the stellar traceback with Gaia DR4

Could shiftFair odds~24 h

[On: Where in the Galaxy, and how long ago, did 3I/ATLAS form?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/3i-atlas/questions/QST0DFQ0MTPD0FX/where-in-the-galaxy-and-how-long-ago-did-3i-atlas-form)

**9** score

Details

When Gaia DR4 is released, rerun the backward integration with its larger catalogue and better velocities. A membership probability that moves decisively to thick or thin disc settles which answer leads; a home star within a few parsecs would be a first.

Ranked by how likely each is to move the key question, for the time it takes

## Sources 2

[Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Has Cold, Ancient Origins](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DFPZ6F4HSB0/interstellar-comet-3i-atlas-has-cold-ancient-origins)

Telescope 2026

SRC

[Isotopic Evidence for a Cold and Distant Origin of the Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DFPWGSFXVMV/isotopic-evidence-for-a-cold-and-distant-origin-of-the)

Cordiner et al. 2026

SRC

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). Carbon isotopes date the ices to 10 to 12 billion years ago [Evidence EVD0DFQ52T02NDX]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/EVD0DFQ52T02NDX
```

Key

**EVD** 0DFQ52T02NDX

Kind

Evidence

Tier

Suggestive

Found in

[Session 1](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/3i-atlas/sessions/SES0DFQC03S98K5/session-1-3i-atlas-opened-the-literature-to-november-2026) · 2 Nov 2026

Version

1

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

The record

Every record is open data. Take this one as JSON, with its links and its history.

[JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/api/v1/records/EVD0DFQ52T02NDX)