Exocomets Found Diving Toward Young Star

The Hubble Space Telescope recently detected a number of comets diving toward a young star only 95 lightyears away from Earth. The star, HD 172555, is young at 23 million years old and represented a part of the extrasolar system, which astronomers were said to have detected "exocomets," because they are outside of our own Solar System.

These comets are said to be falling toward HD 172555 and were determined based on observations of gases nearby that astronomers noted were vaporized remnants of disintegrated comets after they ricocheted off Jupiter-sized planets. The gravities of these massive planets catapult the comets into the stars, in a process called "gravitational stirring," according to Space.com.

Carol Grady, who is leading the study from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a statement that this kind of activity may be common in young star systems. She shared, "This activity at its peak represents a star's active teenage years. Watching these events gives us insight into what probably went on in the early days of our solar system, when comets were pelting the inner solar system bodies, including Earth."

She also noted that these star-grazing comets may even make life possible because they carry with them water and other life-forming elements like carbon to terrestrial planets. Silicon and carbon-gas signatures were even detected in the vicinity of the star, thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope's Imaging Spectograph and Cosmic Origins Spectograph.

The gas was moving about 360,000 miles per hour across the face of the star, leading scientists to believe that it is from a comet-like object that broke apart. Still, they will need to confirm whether these star grazers are actually comets or mere asteroids. Grady noted that they still need additional data to establish the star grazers. Although these, at this point, look and move like comets and to confirm the source of the gaseous debris, researchers still have to find oxygen and hydrogen fingerprints.