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A team of researchers has uncovered seven new dark comets in the solar system. In addition to doubling the number of known dark comets, the researchers have identified two distinct types based on differences in their orbit and size.

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the findings reveal seven new dark comets and two types: outer dark comets and inner dark comets. Outer dark comets are large objects with eccentric orbits that may originate in the outer solar system. Inner dark comets are smaller objects with nearly circular orbits that travel in the inner solar system, closer to Earth, and may originate in the asteroid belt.

“One of the most important reasons why we study small bodies, like asteroids and comets, is because they tell us about how material is transported around the solar system,” said Michigan State University researcher Darryl Seligman, who led the study and is a recipient of a U.S. National Science Foundation Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship, supported in part by a gift from Charles Simonyi to NSF.

“The discovery of more and different types of dark comets whizzing through the solar system is a prime example of why NSF continues to support the innovative research of postdoctoral scientists,” says Louise Edwards, program director of the NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowships program.

Dark comets — which look

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