Comets as a research area encompass the multidisciplinary study of small icy bodies in the Solar System, focusing on their composition, physical properties, dynamics, and role in planetary system formation and evolution. This field integrates observational astronomy, spectroscopy, celestial mechanics, laboratory astrophysics, and space mission data to characterize volatile and refractory components, dust-gas interactions, nucleus structure, coma and tail formation, and outgassing processes. Research addresses orbital evolution, non-gravitational forces, and reservoirs such as the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud, with implications for understanding primordial Solar System materials, delivery of volatiles and organics to terrestrial planets, and comparative planetology.
In the past decade, astronomers have witnessed three interstellar objects (ISOs) passing through the solar system. These include the enigmatic 'Oumuamua in 2017, the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov in 2019, and 3I/ATLAS in ...
Astronomy
Aug 19, 2025
0
234
New research has uncovered compelling evidence that water from a comet is strikingly similar to that found in Earth's oceans, offering fresh support for the idea that comets may have played a crucial role in delivering water—and ...
Astrobiology
Aug 13, 2025
0
72
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the best picture yet of a high-speed comet visiting our solar system from another star.
Astronomy
Aug 7, 2025
1
300
A team of astronomers has taken the sharpest-ever picture of the unexpected interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS using the crisp vision of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble is one of many missions across NASA's fleet of space ...
Astronomy
Aug 7, 2025
0
100
Interstellar objects are visitors from solar systems beyond our own, and the third ever such object, known as 3I/ATLAS, has just been discovered. Using the Gemini North telescope, astronomers have captured 3I/ATLAS as it ...
Planetary Sciences
Jul 16, 2025
3
97
A mystery interstellar object discovered last week is likely to be the oldest comet ever seen—possibly predating our solar system by more than 3 billion years, researchers say.
Astronomy
Jul 11, 2025
0
487
China's Tianwen-2 probe continues on its journey to rendezvous with a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) before heading to the main asteroid belt. The second in China's interplanetary exploration program (which translates to "Questions ...
Planetary Sciences
Jul 3, 2025
0
54
A team of astronomers has made a groundbreaking discovery by detecting molecular activity in comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein)—the largest and second most distantly active comet ever observed from the Oort Cloud.
Astronomy
Jun 17, 2025
0
109
Halley's comet swings near Earth every 75 years. But debris left by the comet leads to two major meteor showers every year including the Eta Aquarids.
Space Exploration
May 2, 2025
0
85
Comets that have hit Earth have been a mixed bag. Early in Earth's history, during the solar system's chaotic beginning, they were likely the source of our planet's water, ultimately making up about 0.02% of the planet's ...
