comets: March 2020

While exoplanets are now routinely detected, the detection of small bodies in extrasolar systems remains challenging. Since the discovery of sporadic events interpreted as exocomets (Falling Evaporating Bodies) around β Pic in the early 80s, only ∼20 stars have been reported to host exocomet-like events.

Comets and asteroids are objects in our solar system that have not developed much since the planets were formed. As a result, they are in a sense the archives of the solar system, and determining their composition could also contribute to a better understanding of the formation of the planets.