Talk: The mystery of space fossils
This event is part of the Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibition 2026.
Comets are the leftover building blocks of planets, which have remained mostly unaltered in the cold and remote environments of space, since their formation. As such, they are incredible tools in understanding how planetary systems form and evolve. Even more enticing, interstellar comets have been formed around another star and then ejected towards our solar system, where we can study in detail materials from far away.
Join , a Belgian astronomer based at the University of Edinburgh, to learn what we know of the three interstellar objects that have been discovered so far and how these ‘space fossils’ help us understand how planets form across the galaxy.
Attending the event
This event will be held in Theatre 2 at the Royal Society on Wednesday 1 July 2026, 10.30am – 11am.
- Free to attend as part of Summer Science Exhibition on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to seat availability. We recommend that visitors arrive 10-15 minutes before the session
- Eventbrite tickets for Summer Science Exhibition are recommended, with only a limited number of walk-up tickets released on the day
- Suitable for students aged 14+
- This talk will take place in person
- A recording of this talk will be available later on the
- Live subtitles will be available
- Travel and accessibility information and details on planning your visit - contact us directly to arrange any specific accessibility requirements
- Food and drink will be available for purchase at our onsite café
For all enquiries, please email us.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, D Jewitt (UCLA), M-T Hui (Shanghai Astronomical Observatory). Image Processing: J DePasquale (STScI)