Astronomers discovered rings from comets that rotate around stars in 74 star systems. This discovery not only reveals the existence of trillions of icy exocomets, that is, comets outside the solar system, but also the source of most of the water in these star systems. The study was published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, writes Space.

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Astronomers have discovered objects known as planetesimal belts using the ALMA Submillimeter Array radio telescopes. These belts rotate at a distant distance from their stars in 74 star systems within a radius of 500 light years from us. The light that the radio telescopes picked up came from huge numbers of rocks, just millimeters in size, that were thrown away by large comets, 1 km in size, as they collided with each other over a very long period of time.. Such planetesimal or exocomet belts are found in at least 20% of star systems in our galaxy.

The solar system's equivalent of such objects is the Kuiper Belt, home to millions of icy bodies, some of which pass through the inner solar system as comets. The Kuiper belt itself extends to a distance of 30 to 55 astronomical units from the Sun. One astronomical unit is about 150 million km or a middle plant from Earth to our star.

Astronomers have previously discovered exocomets and planetesimal belts in other star systems, but have never seen such a huge number of comets.

All 74 planetosimal belts have different age, some have been formed relatively recently, others are already billions of years. They are located at a distance from tens to hundreds of astronomical units from their stars. Despite all the differences between them, belts have some patterns.

The study found that the number of pebbles is decreasing in older star systems because the number of huge exocomets is decreasing there.. At the same time, it turned out that a decrease in the number of pebbles occurs faster if the belt is closer to the star. Astronomers also received indirect evidence that in these belts there are probably still invisible objects ranging in size from 140 kilometers to the size of the Moon.

Astronomers have discovered that all 74 belts are much larger than expected and extend much further from their star.. Some are similar to the Kuiper belt, but most are much wider.

This research gives astronomers more information about how these ice belts form and evolve, as well as the role they play in the evolution of planets. For example, astronomers can find out whether comets deliver water to the planets located closer to the star. Water is known to be the source of life and perhaps comets in the solar system also once brought water to Earth.

Comparing planetesimal belts in other star systems with the Kuiper belt will help unlock the secrets of this frozen region of space in the solar system.

As Focus already wrote, one of the most famous stars in the Milky Way will disappear, but this is a chance to understand the solar system. Sometimes the disappearance of a distant star from view can help scientists understand the history of our immediate cosmic environment..

Focus also wrote that scientists for the first time in real time observed how the gigantic stream of plasma from an ultra -massive black hole was formed and flies into space.