Submit abstracts for interstellar objects

Interstellar objects are the weirdest kind of small body astronomy — rocks or comets that did not form here, but just blast through the Solar System once and leave. That makes every(europlanet.org) limited time, and a lot of unanswered questions. The new thing is practical, not dramatic: Europlanet has opened (europlanet.org)dicated sessions is SB6, “Interstellar Targets of Opportunity: Science from Interstellar Objects, Past, Present and Future.” The abstract dead(science.nasa.gov)er 6–11, 2026. (europlanet.org) ### What actually opened? Europlanet’s call for abstracts for the 2026 Europlanet Science Congress is live, and that means researchers can now formally submit talks and posters into the meeting’s session structure. One of those sessions is explicitly about interstellar objects, under the Small Bodies program group. EPSC is a major European planetary-science meeting, so this is less a random workshop and more a real gathering point for the field. (europlanet.org) ### What is session SB6? SB6 is the conference slot built around inter(europlanet.org)y, objects that appear unexpectedly and force astronomers to react fast. The session title is “Science from Interstellar Objects, Past, Present and Future,” which tells you the scope right away: not just one new object, but lessons from earlier detections, current observing campaigns, and planning for the next one. The listed convener is Michael Küppers, with Oleksandra Ivanova, Noemí Pinilla-Alonso, and Simon Anghel as co-conveners. (meetingorgan([europlanet.org)icus.org/EPSC2026/programme/SB)) ### Why does “targets of opportunity” matter? Because interstellar objects do not wait for your telescope proposal cycle. They show up on hyperbolic trajectories, often already moving fast and fading. That makes them a coordination problem as much as a science problem — surveys have to detect them, orbit calculators have to confirm them, and observatories have to pivot quickly enough to grab spectra, images, and light curves before the object is gone. The conference framing reflects that reality. (meetingorganizer.coperni([meetingorganizer.copernicus.org)ddenly busy? For years, this was almost a hypothetical branch of astronomy. Then came 1I/ʻOumuamua in 2017, 2I/Borisov in 2019, and 3I/ATLAS in 2025. NASA’s current 3I/ATLAS pages describe it as the third known interstellar object observed passing through our Solar System, which means the sample size is still tiny — but no longer one-off tiny. Researchers can now start comparing classes, not just marveling at anomalies. (science.nasa.gov) ##(meetingorganizer.copernicus.org)ument into live campaign mode again. NASA says multiple missions and observatories tracked 3I/ATLAS after its July 1, 2025 discovery, and ESA highlighted how Mars-based observations improved its predicted path by a factor of 10. That is the kind of operational learning a conference session can turn into shared playbooks — what worked, what was too slow, and what should be automated before the next visitor arrives. (science.nasa.gov)t? At the broadest level, anything that helps answer where these objects come from, what they are made of, how they behave, and how we should observe the next one. That can mean telescope observations, orbital dynamics, population models, detection biases, rapid-response methods, or mission concepts. The session description points toward exactly that mix — past results, present campaigns, and future readiness. (meetingorganizer.copernicus.org) ### Wh(science.nasa.gov)SC2026 itself runs September 6–11 in The Hague, and Europlanet says the abstract process is integrated with wider meeting logistics, including support mechanisms like bursaries for some participants. So this is not just a notice that the field is active — it is a real submission window with a clock running. (europlanet.org) ### Bottom line? This is conference bureaucracy, sure — but it is also how a young (meetingorganizer.copernicus.org)nfirmed visitors and a standing need for fast, coordinated science. Opening abstracts for a dedicated EPSC2026 session is one small sign that the community is now organizing around the expectation that another one will come. (europlanet.org)