1I/'Oumuamua-like objects's SFDs with older, current and future surveys
Abstract
Interstellar Objects (ISOs) may provide direct evidence of planetesimals ejected from early-stage solar systems. Studying these objects and predicting their detection through various surveys is vital for enhancing our understanding of planetary formation. We show how ISO size distribution (SFD), f_D~D^-q, controls expected detections in current and future surveys. We focus on TESS and the Vera Rubin Observatory LSST while analyzing Pan-STARRS and ATLAS. TESS is expected to detect ~1 ISO from shallow SFDs (q<2.5). On the other hand, LSST is likely to detect ~0.2-100 ISO yr^-1 over its lifetime. ATLAS is likely to detect one non-cometary object for populations with q<3. We further estimate ~0-8 detections of cometary like-3I/ATLAS objects by LSST in 10 years and ~1 cometary object detected by TESS over its mission time, independent of the nucleus size distribution. By considering both 1I/'Oumuamua and 3I/ATLAS from the same SFD, our results suggest that more asteroid-like objects are produced rather than comets during the early stages of planetary formation. Imminent detections of ISOs by LSST will help constrain the slopes of the SFDs for asteroid-like and cometary ISOs better, and, if applicable, differentiate between them.
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BibTeX
@misc{albornozmontenegro20261ioumuamualike,
title = {{1I/'Oumuamua-like objects's SFDs with older, current and future surveys}},
author = {Rodrigo Albornoz-Montenegro and César Fuentes},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.25488},
eprint = {2609.25488},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.25488},
note = {CC BY-SA 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - 1I/'Oumuamua-like objects's SFDs with older, current and future surveys
AU - Rodrigo Albornoz-Montenegro
AU - César Fuentes
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/21
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.25488
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.25488
AB - Interstellar Objects (ISOs) may provide direct evidence of planetesimals ejected from early-stage solar systems. Studying these objects and predicting their detection through various surveys is vital for enhancing our understanding of planetary formation. We show how ISO size distribution (SFD), f_D~D^-q, controls expected detections in current and future surveys. We focus on TESS and the Vera Rubin Observatory LSST while analyzing Pan-STARRS and ATLAS. TESS is expected to detect ~1 ISO from shallow SFDs (q<2.5). On the other hand, LSST is likely to detect ~0.2-100 ISO yr^-1 over its lifetime. ATLAS is likely to detect one non-cometary object for populations with q<3. We further estimate ~0-8 detections of cometary like-3I/ATLAS objects by LSST in 10 years and ~1 cometary object detected by TESS over its mission time, independent of the nucleus size distribution. By considering both 1I/'Oumuamua and 3I/ATLAS from the same SFD, our results suggest that more asteroid-like objects are produced rather than comets during the early stages of planetary formation. Imminent detections of ISOs by LSST will help constrain the slopes of the SFDs for asteroid-like and cometary ISOs better, and, if applicable, differentiate between them.
ER -