The Discovery of Dark Comets
By Darryl Z. Seligman
Comets that defy the standard definition, along with interstellar objects, are expanding the known population of small bodies in outer space.
This Article From Issue
March-April 2026
Volume 114, Number 2
Page 96
I am a restless sleeper even under the best circumstances. I usually get up three or four times throughout the night, so when I woke at 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, it felt completely normal. I wasn’t expecting anything out of the ordinary to happen.
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- Only three interstellar objects have been identified and observed so far, and they are all distinct, giving scientists insight into a wider range of astronomical small bodies.
- Some small bodies in our Solar System also don’t act like standard comets or asteroids, and scientists continue to find more of them now that they know what to look for.
- New advanced telescopes that can view these objects in different wavelengths, or collect more detailed data about far-off objects, could provide insights about these new populations.
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