Related papers: Interstellar Objects in the Solar System
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.…
The discovery of the first interstellar asteroid, 1I/2017 U1 (`Oumuamua), has opened a new era for research on interstellar objects. In this paper, we study the rotational dynamics of interstellar asteroids (ISAs) of irregular shapes moving…
This article relates two topics of central importance in modern astronomy - the discovery some fifteen years ago of the first planets around other stars (exoplanets), and the centuries-old problem of understanding the origin of our own…
The properties of the first-discovered interstellar object (ISO), 1I/2017 (`Oumuamua), differ from both Solar System asteroids and comets, casting doubt on a protoplanetary disk origin. In this study, we investigate the possibility that it…
We confirm and extend our previous detection of a population of intergalactic globular clusters in Abell 1185, and report the first discovery of an intergalactic globular cluster in the nearby Virgo cluster of galaxies. The numbers, colors…
The first star clusters and quasars resulted directly from the growth of linear density fluctuations in the early Universe. Since they emerged from a well-defined set of initial conditions, the interplay between observational data from the…
In August 2019, a second interstellar object 2I/Borisov was discovered 2 years after the discovery of the first known interstellar object, 1I/'Oumuamua. Can we send a spacecraft to this object, using existing technologies? In this paper we…
Interstellar matter (ISM) sets the boundary conditions of the heliosphere and dominates the interplanetary medium. The heliosphere configuration has varied over recent history, as the Sun emerged from the Local Bubble and entered a…
Exocomets are small bodies releasing gas and dust which orbit stars other than the Sun. Their existence was first inferred from the detection of variable absorption features in stellar spectra in the late 1980s using spectroscopy. More…
Asteroids and other Small Solar System Bodies (SSSBs) are of high general and scientific interest in many aspects. The origin, formation, and evolution of our Solar System (and other planetary systems) can be better understood by analysing…
The discoveries of two Interstellar Objects (ISOs) in recent years has generated significant interest in constraining their physical properties and the mechanisms behind their formation. However, their ephemeral passages through our Solar…
To date, 204 individual molecular species, comprised of 16 different elements, have been detected in the interstellar and circumstellar medium by astronomical observations. These molecules range in size from two atoms to seventy, and have…
The first interstellar object observed in our solar system, 1I/`Oumuamua, exhibited several peculiar properties, including extreme elongation and non-gravitational acceleration. Bergner and Seligman (hereafter BS23) proposed that…
We review the main properties, demographics and applications of binary and millisecond radio pulsars. Our knowledge of these exciting objects has greatly increased in recent years, mainly due to successful surveys which have brought the…
To date, 241 individual molecular species, comprised of 19 different elements, have been detected in the interstellar and circumstellar medium by astronomical observations. These molecules range in size from two atoms to seventy, and have…
The discovery of the third interstellar object (ISO), 3I/ATLAS (`3I'), provides a rare chance to directly observe a small body from another Solar System. Studying its chemistry and dynamics will add to our understanding of how the processes…
At present, there exists no consensus in the astronomical community regarding either the bulk composition or the formation mechanism for the interstellar object 1I/2017 U1 ('Oumuamua). With the goal of assessing the merits of the various…
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 discovery of `Oumuamua and CNEOS 2014-01-08 allowed for a calibration of the impact rate of interstellar objects. We propose a new telescope in lunar orbit to study in real-time interstellar meteoroid impacts and to serve as a…
Until about a decade ago, ring systems were only known to exist around giant planets. Each one of the four giant planets harbours its own distinctive and unique system of rings and inner satellites. The past decade has been marked by the…