Transiting exocomets detected in broadband light by TESS in the \beta Pictoris system
Abstract
We present the first broadband detections of exocomets crossing the disk of $\beta$ Pictoris. We use photometric data obtained by the TESS satellite over a time-base of 105 days, and pre-whiten the 54 identified $\delta$ Scuti $p$-modes of the star. The residual photometric time-series show three distinct dipping events. These dips have depths from 0.5 to 2 millimag, durations of up to 2 days for the largest dip, and are asymmetric in nature. This detection complements the predictions made 20 years earlier. Furthermore they confirm the spectroscopic detection of exocomets in Calcium II $H$ and $K$ lines that have been seen in high-resolution spectroscopy.
- Publication:
-
Stars and their Variability Observed from Space
- Pub Date:
- 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020svos.conf..439Z
- Keywords:
-
- Comets: general;
- stars: planetary systems;
- individual: $\beta$ Pictoris;
- Techniques: photometric;
- circumstellar matter