For the first time in the world, an international group of researchers has discovered 30 exocomets and determined the size of their cores.
The prefix "exo" used before comets issignifies the fact that these space rocks were discovered outside of our solar system. Just like the 5,000 exoplanets that orbit other stars.
A new batch of exocomets discovered in orbitstar system β Pictoris. Astronomers have observed it for more than 30 years as it contains a planetary system in the process of formation. In 1987, the first exocomets were discovered in it, located at a distance of about 63.4 light years from Earth.
New study describes the discovery of 30 newexocomets, and also provides the most detailed analysis of interstellar space rocks yet. Looking at observational data collected over 156 days by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), the team used photometry to obtain new, high-precision readings.
“Until recently, observations of β Pictoris were carried out only using spectroscopy. Using high-precision photometry, we were able to study the dusty tails of comets,” the scientists explain.
The team was able to determine the size of the nuclei of theseexocomet. It turned out that they ranged from 3 to 14 km in diameter. They were also able to measure the size distribution of exocomets, a first for those outside our solar system.
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