Related papers: Interstellar Interloper 1I/2017 U1: Observations f…
The first interstellar object, `Oumuamua, was discovered in the Solar System by Pan-STARRS in 2017, allowing for a calibration of the impact rate of interstellar meteors of its size $\sim 100\;$m. The discovery of CNEOS 2014-01-08 allowed…
The low velocity of interstellar asteroid 1I/'Oumuamua with respect to our galaxy's Local Standard of Rest implies it is young. Adopting the young age hypothesis, we assess possible origin systems for this interstellar asteroid and for…
Kuiper belt object 136108 Haumea is one of the most fascinating bodies in our solar system. Approximately 2000x1600x1000 km in size, it is one of the largest Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) and an unusually elongated one for its size. The shape…
Comets and asteroids have long captured human curiosity, and until recently, all documented examples belonged to our Solar System. That changed with the discovery of the first known interstellar object, 1I/2017 U1 ('Oumuamua), in 2017. Two…
The first interstellar object to be discovered, 1I/'Oumuamua, exhibited various unusual properties as it was tracked on its passage through the inner solar system in 2017/2018. In terms of the potential scientific return, a spacecraft…
Micheli, et al. (2018) reported that a seven-parameter fit to the orbit of 1I/2017 U1 `Oumuamua indicated a non-gravitational acceleration in the anti-Solar direction, and attributed it to recoil from comet-like outgassing. The implied gas…
Context. Theories of the formation and evolution of small bodies in planetary systems predict that they may escape into interstellar space at any time. After having characterized just two such interlopers -1I/2017 U1 (Oumuamua) and…
We present time-resolved near-infrared (J and H) photometry of the extreme Kuiper belt object (136108) Haumea (formerly 2003 EL61) taken to further investigate rotational variability of this object. The new data show that the near-infrared…
We present initial observations of the interstellar body 2I/(2019 Q4) Borisov taken to determine its nature prior to the perihelion in 2019 December. Images from the Nordic Optical Telescope show a prominent, morphologically stable dust…
I present a re-analysis of the available observational constraints on the trajectory of 'Oumuamua, the first confirmed interstellar object discovered in the solar system. 'Oumuamua passed through the inner solar system on a hyperbolic…
A 2000-2017 set of long-period comets with high-quality orbits of perihelion distance <1 AU is used to show that the objects that perish shortly before perihelion are nearly exclusively the Oort Cloud comets, especially those with perihelia…
The main-belt comets occupy dynamically asteroidal orbits in the main asteroid belt. Here we present physical observations of the second-known member of this population, P/2005 U1 (Read), which showed vigorous cometary activity from 2005…
We present photometric observations and numerical simulations of 2016 SD$_{106}$, a low inclination ($i=4.8^{\circ}$) extreme trans-Neptunian Object with a large semi-major axis ($a=350$ au) and perihelion ($q= 42.6$ au). This object…
The surfaces of airless bodies such as asteroids are exposed to many phenomena that can alter their physical properties. Bennu, the target of the OSIRIS-REx mission, has demonstrated how complex the surface of a small body can be. In 2019…
Extensive time-resolved observations of Kuiper Belt object 2001 QG298 show a lightcurve with a peak-to-peak variation of 1.14 +-0.04 magnitudes and single-peaked period of 6.8872 +- 0.0002 hr. The mean absolute magnitude is 6.85 magnitudes…
The first interstellar object, `Oumuamua, was discovered in the Solar System by Pan-STARRS in 2017, allowing for a calibration of the abundance of interstellar objects of its size and an estimation of the subset of objects trapped by the…
In 2017, 1I/`Oumuamua was identified as the first known interstellar object in the Solar System. Although typical cometary activity tracers were not detected, `Oumuamua exhibited a significant non-gravitational acceleration. To date there…
The first discovered interstellar small object, `Oumuamua (1I/2017 U1), presents unique physical properties of extremely elongated geometric shape and dual characteristics of an asteroid and a comet. These properties suggest a possible…
We observed comet 322P/SOHO 1 (P/1999 R1) from the ground and with the Spitzer Space Telescope when it was between 2.2 and 1.2 AU from the Sun. These are the first observations of any SOHO-discovered periodic comet by a non-solar…
We observed comet 96P/Machholz 1 on a total of 9 nights before and after perihelion during its 2017/2018 apparition. Both its unusually small perihelion distance and the observed fragmentation during multiple apparitions make 96P an object…