Interstellar comet

From the time Kepler was launched in 2009 until its mission concluded in 2018, it "discovered" over 3,000 planets orbiting stars within the Milky Way. Obviously, these discoveries came long after the data were actually collected, but the gist of the story is clear: 3,000 is more exoplanets in just under ten years.

Since we observed the first object from outside the Solar System, the asteroid 'Oumuamua, discovered in 2017, only two other interstellar objects have been observed: Comet Borisov, discovered in 2019, and 3I/ATLAS, a temporary name for a comet recently discovered thanks to NASA's Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS).

Albino Carbognani on MediaINAF provides some interesting data for all amateur astronomers who want to try observing it. Furthermore, in the same article, you can find its trajectory, which is precisely what revealed the new comet came from beyond the confines of the Solar System.

A curious fact I'd like to highlight: once again, we're dealing with a comet. From our Solar System, we know that comets are born on the outskirts of the system, and the fact that two out of three interstellar objects are comets seems to suggest that this holds true for other solar systems as well. Let's return, however, to the comparison I attempted at the beginning: from 2017 to today, or in about eight years, only three interstellar objects have been discovered. And this fact should make us reflect on how difficult it is to travel between the stars.