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We'd assume most interstellar objects are comets because that's which objects you find on the outskirts of a solar system and are the easiest to get kicked out.

We'd assume most interstellar objects are comets because that's which objects you find on the outskirts of a solar system and are the easiest to get kicked out. We'd assume they're mostly like our comets due to the Copernican principle. We shouldn't assume we're special.

ceejayoz 1y ago
> We'd assume they're mostly like our comets due to the Copernican principle. We're still figuring out what our comets are like, let alone unusual ones spending a few million years in interstellar space. New types of comets(ish) bodies discovered in the 2000s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_asteroid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_asteroid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manx_comet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manx_comet We've spotted ~5k out of an estimated trillion. Each one we've sent a probe to has brought surprises. The Oort cloud remains theoretical at this time, and the first Kuiper belt object other than Pluto/Charon was found in 1992. It would be deeply silly to think we know everything about our local comets, let alone unusual ones from elsewhere.