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To date, at least three comets -- 2I/Borisov, C/2016 R2 (PanSTARRS), and C/2009 P1 (Garradd) -- have been observed to have unusually high CO concentrations compared to water. We attempt to explain these observations by modeling the effect…

Based on the occurrence rates implied by the discoveries of 1I/`Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov, the forthcoming Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) should detect $\ge1$ interstellar objects every year (Hoover et al. 2021). We…

[Abridged] The detection of abundant O$_{2}$ ice at 1-10% with respect to H$_{2}$O ice in the comae of comets 1P/Halley and 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko motivated attempts to explain the origin of the high O$_{2}$ ice abundance. Recent…

Cometary activity may be driven by ices with very low sublimation temperatures, such as carbon monoxide ice, which can sublimate at distances well beyond 20 au. This point is emphasized by the discovery of Oort cloud comet C/2014 UN$_{271}$…

We present a fully integrated model of comet evolution that couples thermal and compositional processes with dynamical processes continuously, from formation to present-day activity. The combined code takes into account changes in orbital…

The Oort Cloud remains one of the most poorly explored regions of the Solar System. We propose that its properties can be constrained by studying a population of dust grains produced in collisions of comets in the outer Solar System. We…

The High Resolution Instrument Infrared Spectrometer (HRI-IR) onboard the Deep Impact Flyby spacecraft detected H2O, CO2, and CO in the coma of the dynamically young Oort cloud comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) post-perihelion at a heliocentric…

We study the dynamical properties of objects in hyperbolic orbits passing through the inner Solar system in the context of two different potential sources: interstellar space and the Oort cloud. We analytically derive the probability…

Comet C/2017 K2 (Pan-STARRS) provided a rare opportunity to investigate the evolution of coma composition and outgassing patterns over a transitional heliocentric distance (Rh) range where activity drivers in comets are thought to change…

Context: Increasingly, Oort Cloud comets are being discovered at great distances from the Sun and tracked over ever wider ranges of heliocentric distances as observational equipment improves. Aims: To investigate in detail how the original…

Comet C/2016 R2 PanSTARRS (hereafter C/2016 R2) presents an unusually high N2/CO abundance ratio, as well as a heavy depletion in H2O, making it the only known comet of its kind. Understanding its dynamical history is therefore of essential…

The 2023 perihelion passage of comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) afforded an opportunity to measure the abundances and spatial distributions of coma volatiles in an Oort cloud comet at high spatial resolution near its close approach to Earth…

Comets, during their journeys into the inner solar system, deliver volatile gases, organics, and particulates into their comae that provide crucial information for assessing the physico-chemical conditions in the outer disk from which they…

Comets provide a valuable window into the chemical and physical conditions at the time of their formation in the young solar system. We seek insights into where and when these objects formed by comparing the range of abundances observed for…

Comets spend most of their lives at large distances from any star, during which time their interior compositions remain relatively unaltered. Cometary observations can therefore provide direct insight into the chemistry that occurred during…

The study of comets affords a unique window into the birth, infancy, and subsequent history of the solar system. There is strong evidence that comets incorporated pristine interstellar material as well as processed nebular matter, providing…

Kuiper belt objects, such as Arrokoth, the probable progenitors of short-period comets, formed and evolved at large heliocentric distances, where the ambient temperatures appear to be sufficiently low for preserving volatile ices. By…

We report a new imaging spectroscopic observation of Oort-cloud comet C/2017 K2 (hereafter K2) on its way to perihelion at 2.53 au, around a heliocentric distance where H2O ice begins to play a key role in comet activation. Normalized…

Molecular oxygen has been confirmed as the fourth most abundant molecule in cometary material O$_2$/H$_2$O $\sim 4$ %) and is thought to have a primordial nature, i.e., coming from the interstellar cloud from which our solar system was…

A rich inventory of complex organic molecules (COMs) has been observed in high abundances in the gas phase toward Class 0 protostars. These molecules are suggested to be formed in ices and sublimate in the warm inner envelope close to the…