Landmark Survey Reveals 74 Exocomet Belts Orbiting Nearby Stars

Learn what this survey recorded of exocomet belts, which imaged and identified bands of every size.

By Sam Walters
Jan 17, 2025 9:00 PMJan 17, 2025 9:06 PM
30 exocomet belts
30 of the exocomet belts, as imaged in this study, showing the extreme variation in such belts. (Credit: Prof Luca Matra, Trinity College Dublin.)

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Astrophysicists have taken images of a large sample of exocomet belts for the first time, imaging the bands along with the tiny pebbles that orbit within. The images were published in a study in Astronomy and Astrophysics, showing bands of a variety of structures.

“The images reveal a remarkable diversity in the structure of belts,” said Sebastián Marino, a study author and an astronomer at the University of Exeter, according to a press release. “Some are narrow rings […] but a larger number of them are wide, and probably better described as ‘disks’ rather than rings.”


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