New observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have yielded the first-ever measurement of deuterated water — also known as semi-heavy water — in an interstellar object. The discovery […]
exocomet
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
Secular Light Curve of Exocomet 3I/ATLAS, and its Location on a Comet Evolutionary Diagram
In this work we will create the Secular Light Curve (SLC) of exocomet 3I/ATLAS, using the SLC-Methodology (Ferrin 2010-2023). The SLCs give a throve of new information and allow the […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Beta Pictoris, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Observations Of Exocomets
Active small bodies in extrasolar systems, the extrasolar analogues of Solar System comets, provide insights into the orbital evolution and physical processes shaping planetary systems.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Beta Pictoris, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Visual Inspection Of Potential Exocomet Transits Identified Through Machine Learning And Statistical Methods
In this work, we explore several ways to detect possible exocomet transits in the TESS (The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) light curves. The first one has been presented in our […]
Posted inBeta Pictoris, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Transit Distances And Composition Of Low-velocity Exocomets In The β Pictoris System
β Pictoris is a young nearby A5V star, about 20 Myr old, embedded in a prominent debris disc. For the past 40 years, variable absorption features have been observed in […]
Posted inComets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
A Nomenclature For Individual Exocomets
With recent observational advancements, exocomet studies have entered a new era: we have moved from an epoch where exocomets’ signatures were analysed to identify their true nature to a new […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
An Overview Of Exocomets
We give a general overview of what the scientific community refers to as “exocomets”.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
TESS Discovers a Second System of Transiting Exocomets in the Extreme Debris Disk of RZ Psc
We present the TESS discovery of only the second system of transiting exocomets with a sufficient number of events to measure the size distribution in the RZ Psc system, enabling […]
![Distance versus time distributions for the 49 encounters with β Pic that have an empirical probability of at least 95% of occurring within 2 pc. The coloured points indicate the rescaled Mahalanobis distances (ensuring a common colour scale for all stars) derived from the encounter parameters. Points above the 95th percentile of this metric are shown in grey. The black bars represent the 95% confidence intervals in time and distance, obtained from the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles of the corresponding marginal distributions for the further encounters and using the 95th percentile to define the one-tailed distance interval for the closest ones. The central points are the 50th percentiles. The critical radius of 2 pc is indicated by the red horizontal line. The centres of mass of binary systems, listed in table 4, are marked at the pair [t50, d50] corresponding to that star. -- astro-ph.SR](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/A-Kinematic-History-Of-Stellar.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inBeta Pictoris, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
A Kinematic History Of Stellar Encounters With Beta Pictoris
Beta Pictoris is an A-type star hosting a complex planetary system with two massive gas giants and a prominent debris disk.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Beta Pictoris, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Exocomets of Beta Pictoris I: Exocomet destruction, sodium and disk line variability in 17 years of HARPS observations
The young β Pictoris system has been monitored with high-resolution optical spectrographs for decades. These observations have revealed strongly variable absorption in the Ca II H\&K lines attributed to in-falling […]