Astronomers have a new theory about planetary formation, and it revolves around one mysterious concept: interstellar visitors. No, not little green men, but rather deep-space wanderers like the peculiar comet 3I/ATLAS discovered this summer.
A new study presented by professor Susanne Pfalzner of Forschungszentrum Jülich at the Joint Meeting of the Europlanet Science Congress and the Division of Planetary Sciences last week suggests such interstellar objects could serve as "seeds" for exoplanet growth around young stars.
