Directory · Small bodies

Asteroids, comets & visitors

The small bodies that carry the Solar System’s early history — and the interstellar travellers that arrived from other stars.

Interstellar visitors

3I/ATLASInterstellar cometThe third confirmed visitor from another planetary system. 1I/‘OumuamuaInterstellar objectThe first confirmed object from another star system. 2I/BorisovInterstellar cometThe first confirmed interstellar comet.

Asteroids

1 CeresDwarf planet / asteroidA water-rich world in the asteroid belt. 4 VestaAsteroid / protoplanetA differentiated survivor from the early Solar System. 2 PallasAsteroidA large, tilted main-belt world awaiting its first visitor.

Comets

1P/HalleyPeriodic cometThe comet that returns about every 76 years. 2P/EnckePeriodic cometA frequent visitor and source of the Taurid meteors. 67P/Churyumov–GerasimenkoPeriodic cometThe comet explored by Rosetta and Philae.

Curated, not exhaustive. These are selected small-body field notes. NASA/JPL currently lists three confirmed interstellar objects: 1I, 2I, and 3I.