Scientists reveal structure of 74 exocomet belts orbiting nearby stars
17 January 2025An international team of astrophysicists has imaged a large number of exocomet belts around nearby stars, and the tiny pebbles within them.
Fast-moving gas flowing away from young star’s asteroid belt may be caused by icy comet vaporisation
30 November 2020A unique stage of planetary system evolution has been imaged by astronomers, showing fast-moving carbon monoxide gas flowing away from a star system over 400 light years away, a discovery that provides an opportunity to study how our own solar system developed.
Galactic gas caused by colliding comets suggests mystery ‘shepherd’ exoplanet
06 March 2014Latest research has uncovered a massive clump of carbon monoxide in a young solar system. The gas is the result of near constant collisions of icy comets – suggesting vast swarms of tightly packed comets in thrall to the gravitational pull of an as-yet-unseen exoplanet.
Low-mass planets make good neighbours for debris discs
27 November 2012Astronomers using the Herschel Space Observatory have detected massive debris discs around two nearby stars hosting low-mass planets. The discovery suggests that debris discs may survive more easily in planetary systems without high-mass planets.
