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Description
We search for signs of falling evaporating bodies (FEBs, also known as exocomets) in photometric time series obtained for {beta} Pictoris after fitting and removing its {delta} Scuti-type pulsation frequencies. Using photometric data obtained by the TESS satellite we determined the pulsational properties of the exoplanet host star {beta} Pictoris through frequency analysis. We then pre-whitened the 54 identified {delta} Scuti p-modes and investigated the residual photometric time series for the presence of FEBs. We identify three distinct dipping events in the light curve of {beta} Pictoris over a 105-day period. These dips have depths from 0.5 to 2-millimagnitudes and durations of up to 2-days for the largest dip. These dips are asymmetric in nature and are consistent with a model of an evaporating comet with an extended tail crossing the disc of the star. We present the first broadband detections of exocomets crossing the disc of {beta} Pictoris, complementing the predictions made 20 years earlier by Lecavelier Des Etangs et al. (1999A&A...343..916L). No periodic transits are seen in this time series. These observations confirm the spectroscopic detection of exocomets in calcium H and K lines that have been seen in high resolution spectroscopy.
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