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Interstellar Objects are comets and asteroids that formed around other stars but were ejected before they could accrete into exoplanets. They therefore represent a rare opportunity to compare the building blocks of planets in the Solar…
Without extensive maintenance, Dyson spheres inevitably disintegrate by asteroid impacts over billions of years. The resulting fragments would appear as anomalous interstellar objects, potentially sharing the unusual shape and motion of…
`Oumuamua, the first detected interstellar visitor to the solar system, exhibits non-gravitational acceleration in its trajectory. Ruling out other means of propulsion, such as the evaporation of material via a cometary tail, it has been…
Comet 2I/Borisov is the first true interstellar comet discovered. Here we present results from observational programs at two Indian observatories, 2 m Himalayan Chandra Telescope at the Indian Astronomical Observatory, Hanle (HCT) and 1.2 m…
In two recent papers published in MNRAS, Namouni and Morais (2018, 2020) claimed evidence for the interstellar origin of some small Solar System bodies, including i) objects in retrograde co-orbital motion with the giant planets, and ii)…
Astrophysical space missions deliver invaluable information about our universe, stellar dynamics of our galaxy, and motion of celestial bodies in the solar system. Astrometric space missions SIM and Gaia will determine distances to stars…
We review recent studies of organic molecule formation in dense molecular clouds and in comets. We summarise the known organic inventories of molecular clouds and recent comets, particularly Hale-Bopp. The principal chemical formation…
The study of Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) is one of the most exciting topics that can be undertaken by long baseline optical interferometry. The magnitudes of these objects are at the edge of capabilities of current optical interferometers,…
We present observations of the interstellar interloper 1I/2017 U1 ('Oumuamua) taken during its 2017 October flyby of Earth. The optical colors B-V = 0.70$\pm$0.06, V-R = 0.45$\pm$0.05, overlap those of the D-type Jovian Trojan asteroids and…
Interstellar objects such as 1I/'Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov offer a unique window into the formation and evolution of other star systems, yet the tracking and analysis of their trajectories remain limited to specialized research institutions.…
We explore what may be learned by close encounters between extrasolar minor bodies like `Oumuamua and the Sun. These encounters may yield strong constraints on the bulk composition and possible origin of `Oumuamua-like objects. We find that…
The arrival of solid particles from outside our solar system would present us with an invaluable source of scientific information. Attempts to detect such interstellar particles among the meteors observed in Earth's atmosphere have almost…
1I/'Oumuamua is the first interstellar interloper to be detected, and it shows a non-gravitational acceleration that cannot be accounted for by outgassing, given the strict upper limits of outgassing evident from {\it Spitzer} observations,…
Interstellar objects (ISOs), the parent population of 1I/Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov, are abundant in the interstellar medium of the Milky Way. This means that the interstellar medium, including molecular cloud regions, has three components:…
Context. Natural interstellar objects do not form isolated in deep space, but escape their natal planetary systems. Early removal from their home star systems via close flybys with still-forming planets could be the dominant ejection…
Substantial progress in the field of the Local Interstellar Medium has been largely due to recent launches of space missions, mostly in the UV and X-ray domains, but also to ground-based observations, mainly in high resolution spectroscopy.…
There is an unceasing incoming flux of extraterrestrial materials reaching the Earth's atmosphere. Some of these objects produce luminous columns when they ablate during the hypersonic encounter with air molecules. A few fireballs occur…
Nomadic worlds, i.e., objects not gravitationally bound to any star(s), are of great interest to planetary science and astrobiology. They have garnered attention recently due to constraints derived from microlensing surveys and the recent…
Interstellar Objects (ISO) passing through our Solar System offer a rare opportunity to probe the physical and chemical processes involved in solid body and planet formation in extrasolar systems. The main objective of our study is to…
Over the course of its motion through the Galaxy, our solar system has encountered many interstellar environments of varying characteristics. Interstellar medium (ISM) density variations spanning seven orders of magnitude are commonly seen…