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Astronomers announce largest collection of comets found outside our solar system

74 images o different star systems
Caption: This gallery contains 74 images of different star systems with cometary belts (known as “exocomets”) taken with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter (ALMA) radio telescope facilities. The stars in this study range in ages from very young to middle-aged like our Sun. This new study shows how comets play a role in the formation of stars and planetary systems.

Credit: Luca Matra

For the first time, astronomers have imaged dozens of belts around nearby stars where comets and tiny pebbles within them are orbiting.

This result reveals regions around 74 stars spanning a wide range of ages—from those recently formed to others billions of years old—showing how comets play a role in the formation of stars and planetary systems...

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