Interstellar objects as a research area focus on the detection, characterization, and dynamical analysis of solid bodies that originate outside a planetary system and traverse or enter another, such as the Solar System. This field integrates observational astronomy, celestial mechanics, planetary science, and astrochemistry to constrain their trajectories, compositions, sizes, shapes, rotational states, and possible formation environments. Research investigates their implications for planetesimal formation, mass loss from planetary systems, galactic dynamical processes, and the transfer of material between stellar systems, as well as optimizing observational strategies and instrumentation for their rapid identification and follow-up before they exit observational reach.
All sorts of crazy things have been suggested regarding 3I/ATLAS, the third known interstellar object that we've discovered. Some are simply conspiracy theories about it being an alien spacecraft, while others have been well-thought-out ...
Planetary Sciences
Oct 21, 2025
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The interstellar object 3I/ATLAS has been something of a mystery ever since it graced our solar system. From all outward appearances, the object appears to be a comet that originated in another star system and was ejected ...
Astronomy
Oct 13, 2025
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For millions of years, a fragment of ice and dust drifted between the stars—like a sealed bottle cast into the cosmic ocean. This summer, that bottle finally washed ashore in our solar system and was designated 3I/ATLAS, ...
Astrobiology
Oct 7, 2025
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Interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS has been constantly changing as it makes its way through our solar system. That's to be expected, as, for the first time in potentially billions of years, it's getting close to the energy put ...
Planetary Sciences
Oct 6, 2025
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A comet from another star system will swing by Mars on Friday as a fleet of spacecraft trains its sights on the interstellar visitor.
Space Exploration
Oct 2, 2025
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The period known as "cosmic noon," which took place roughly 2 to 3 billion years after the Big Bang, was characterized by the rapid formation of new stars and planetary systems. Naturally, objects dated to this period are ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 16, 2025
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25
Comet 3I/ATLAS is the third ISO ever detected. It was discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) station on 1 July 2025. It's traveling through the inner solar system at about 220,000 km/h and ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 12, 2025
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The earliest images of 3I/ATLAS, newly uncovered by Michigan State University, reveal how the interstellar object evolved as it traveled through our solar system—and how other distant solar systems might be different from ...
Astronomy
Sep 11, 2025
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Interstellar objects like 3I/ATLAS that have been captured in planet-forming disks around young stars could become the seeds of giant planets, bypassing a hurdle that theoretical models have previously been unable to explain.
Astronomy
Sep 11, 2025
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66
The eyes of every astronomer widened this year when an interstellar traveler was discovered in our solar system.
Planetary Sciences
Sep 9, 2025
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