An Overview of Exocomets
Abstract We give a general overview of what the scientific community refers to as “exocomets”. The general definition of exocomets, as presented in this work, is discussed and compared with Solar System comets and interstellar objects, addressing their detection around main-sequence stars as well as orbiting white dwarfs. We introduce the different types of exocomet observations, highlighting the difference between exocometary ‘bodies’ and exocometary ‘material’. We provide a census of all exocometary system candidates detected so far, both via spectroscopy and photometry, including detections around white dwarfs.
Authors
- H. J. Hoeijmakers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8981-6759)
- Isabel Rebollido (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4388-6417)
- Darryl Z. Seligman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0726-6480)
- Michele T. Bannister (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3257-4490)
- Matthew D. Kenworthy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7064-8270)
- Daniela Iglesias (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0756-9836)
- A. Lecavelier des Étangs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5637-5253)
- Siyi Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8808-4282)
- Bin Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5033-9593)
- Azib Norazman
Institutions
- Leiden University (NL)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Leeds (GB)
- University of Canterbury (NZ)
- Lund University (SE)
- Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (FR)
- University of Warwick (GB)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- European Space Astronomy Centre (ES)
- Royal Observatory (GB)
- Michigan State University (US)
- Universidad Diego Portales (CL)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Space Science Reviews
- Published
- 2025-12-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-025-01247-6
- Primary Topic
- Astro and Planetary Science
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- New Zealand Government
- Royal Society Te Apārangi
- Science and Technology Facilities Council