Abstract

When considering the planetary systems of nearby stars, it is natural to focus on the planets in those systems. After all, these are the most massive components of the system, and some may be habitable. However, most planetary systems also contain a much more numerous population of smaller bodies; i.e., asteroids, comets, and objects with sizes extending all the way down to micron-sized dust. Perhaps surprisingly, these small bodies are often readily detectable giving a unique insight into a star’s planetary system, even when its planets remain undetected. This talk will describe what we have learnt about the asteroids and comets of other stars, and how their systems compare with our own. It will also highlight recent observational discoveries from HST , JWST and ALMA , including the detection of a collision between two large comets, and dust distributions shaped by radiation forces and gravitational interactions with unseen planets.