An Overview of Exocomets

Daniela Iglesias; Isabel Rebollido; Azib Norazman; Colin Snodgrass; Darryl Z. Seligman; Siyi Xu; H. Jens Hoeijmakers; Matthew Kenworthy; Alain Lecavelier des Etangs; Michele Bannister; Bin Yang

doi:10.1007/s11214-025-01247-6

An Overview of Exocomets

Daniela Iglesias
, Isabel Rebollido
, Azib Norazman
, Colin Snodgrass
, Darryl Z. Seligman
, Siyi Xu
, H. Jens Hoeijmakers
, Matthew Kenworthy
, Alain Lecavelier des Etangs
, Michele Bannister
, Bin Yang

School of Physics and Astronomy
University of Leeds
ESAC campus
University of Warwick
University of Edinburgh, Institute for Astronomy
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Michigan State University
Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab
Department of Physics
Lund University
University of Leiden
Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris
School of Physical and Chemical Sciences–Te Kura Matū
University of Canterbury
Instituto de Estudios Astrofísicos
Universidad Diego Portales
University of Warwick

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

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.

Original language	English
Article number	122
Journal	Space Science Reviews
Volume	221
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-025-01247-6
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2025
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Circumstellar material
Comets
Exocomets
Interstellar objects

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10.1007/s11214-025-01247-6

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title = "An Overview of Exocomets",

abstract = "We give a general overview of what the scientific community refers to as {\textquotedblleft}exocomets{\textquotedblright}. 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 {\textquoteleft}bodies{\textquoteright} and exocometary {\textquoteleft}material{\textquoteright}. We provide a census of all exocometary system candidates detected so far, both via spectroscopy and photometry, including detections around white dwarfs.",

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AU - Iglesias, Daniela

AU - Rebollido, Isabel

AU - Norazman, Azib

AU - Snodgrass, Colin

AU - Seligman, Darryl Z.

AU - Xu, Siyi

AU - Hoeijmakers, H. Jens

AU - Kenworthy, Matthew

AU - Lecavelier des Etangs, Alain

AU - Bannister, Michele

AU - Yang, Bin

PY - 2025/12/1

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AB - 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.

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KW - Comets

KW - Exocomets

KW - Interstellar objects

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SN - 0038-6308

VL - 221

JO - Space Science Reviews

JF - Space Science Reviews

IS - 8

M1 - 122

ER -

An Overview of Exocomets

Abstract

Keywords

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