Related papers: The Interstellar Interlopers
The first interstellar object 'Oumuamua is discovered in 2017. When 'Oumuamua travels in interstellar space, it keeps colliding with interstellar medium (ISM). Given a sufficiently long interaction time, its rotation state may change…
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…
We scrutinize the light sail scenario of the first interstellar object (ISO) 1I/2017 U1 (`Oumuamua) by making comparisons between physical models and observational constraints. These analyses can be generalized for future surveys of…
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 interstellar traveler, 2I/Borisov, is the first clearly active extrasolar comet, ever detected in our Solar system. We obtained high-resolution interferometric observations of 2I/Borisov with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter…
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…
On 31 August 2019, an interstellar comet was discovered as it passed through the Solar System (2I/Borisov). Based on initial imaging observations, 2I/Borisov appeared to be completely similar to ordinary Solar System comets - an unexpected…
The detection of interstellar bodies passing near the Sun offers the opportunity to observe not just objects similar to those in the solar system, but also unfamiliar objects without solar system analogues. Here I show that Asymptotic Giant…
Comet 2I/Borisov, the first unambiguous interstellar comet ever found, was discovered in August 2019 at $\sim3$ au from the Sun on its inbound leg. No pre-discovery detection beyond 3 au has yet been reported, mostly due to the comet's…
Intrinsically faint comets in nearly-parabolic orbits with perihelion distances much smaller than 1 AU exhibit strong propensity for suddenly disintegrating at a time not long before perihelion, as shown by Bortle (1991). Evidence from…
The first known interstellar object 'Oumuamua exhibited a nongravitational acceleration that appeared inconsistent with cometary outgassing, leaving radiation pressure as the most likely force. Bar the alien lightsail hypothesis, an…
Among the outer solar system minor planet orbits there is an observed gap in perihelion between roughly 50 and 65 au at eccentricities $e\gtrsim0.65$. Through a suite of observational simulations, we show that the gap arises from two…
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…
For the second discovered interstellar comet 2I/Borisov we searched for a candidate for its home system. We will never be sure which star or stellar system does this comet come from but obtaining a very small relative velocity and a…
Here, we explore some peculiar orbital features of the recently discovered asteroid A/2017 U1, which is a clear outlier when considering the average value of the eccentricity of known hyperbolic comets. As for the orientation of its orbit…
The earliest confirmed 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 $\sim 100\;$ m. This was followed by the…
The discovery of 1I/2017 U1 ('Oumuamua) has provided the first glimpse of a planetesimal born in another planetary system. This interloper exhibits a variable colour within a range that is broadly consistent with local small bodies such as…
We investigate the trapping of interstellar objects during the early stages of star and planet formation. Our results show a very wide range of possible values that will be narrowed down as the population of interstellar objects becomes…
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…
The appearance of interstellar objects (ISOs) in the Solar System -- and specifically the arrival of 1I/'Oumuamua -- points to a significant number density of free-floating bodies in the solar neighborhood. We review the details of…