Dark Messengers from the Edge of the Solar System: Can Dark Matter Trigger Comets?
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Dark Messengers from the Edge of the Solar System: Can Dark Matter Trigger Comets?

This summary explains how Jeremy Mould investigates whether massive dark matter objects, such as primordial black holes, could disturb the Oort cloud and send comets into the inner solar system. Using a simplified model, the study shows that if a modest fraction of dark matter has lunar-scale masses, it could plausibly account for the observed comet rate, offering a novel, testable link between comets and dark matter.

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Gaia’s Faintest Stars: Chasing Primordial Black Holes in the Galactic Backyard
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Gaia’s Faintest Stars: Chasing Primordial Black Holes in the Galactic Backyard

Jeremy Mould’s study used Gaia data to search for primordial black holes (PBHs) among the faintest nearby stars but found none. The dim objects are mostly brown dwarfs, with possible contributions from free-floating planets and compact ultracool dwarfs. Future detection of PBHs will likely rely on microlensing with more powerful telescopes like Rubin.

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