Non-Gravitational Acceleration in 3I ATLAS: Constraints on Exotic Volatile Outgassing in Interstellar Comets

TL;DR

This study models the non-gravitational acceleration of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, demonstrating that CO-driven outgassing plausibly explains its observed motion without invoking exotic physics.

Contribution

It introduces a thermophysical model that links volatile outgassing to observed accelerations, showing CO activity as a sufficient explanation for 3I/ATLAS's motion.

Findings

CO outgassing can account for the observed acceleration.

Less volatile species are less effective in producing acceleration.

The comet's acceleration is consistent with normal CO-driven activity.

Abstract

The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS displayed a small but statistically significant non-gravitational acceleration during its passage through the inner Solar System. Using a thermophysical model coupled with stochastic sampling of jet configurations, we investigate whether standard volatile-driven activity can account for the observed acceleration. The model includes diurnal and obliquity-averaged energy balance, empirical vapour-pressure relations, and collimated outflow from localized active areas. We find that CO-dominated activity can reproduce the magnitude of the acceleration inferred from the Marsden non-gravitational parameters for nucleus radii between 0.5 and 3 km with active-area fractions that are substantial but thermodynamically plausible. Less volatile species, including NH_3 and CH_4, contribute less efficiently and cannot provide the required recoil when acting alone, while CO_2 remains radiatively dominated and dynamically ineffective over the heliocentric-distance range relevant to the observations. These results show that the measured acceleration of 3I/ATLAS is consistent with ordinary CO-driven outgassing and does not require unusual physical properties. The analysis delineates the thermophysical conditions under which interstellar comets can exhibit measurable deviations from purely gravitational motion.