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Astronomers Watch Birth of Solar System
Thursday, December 15, 2005
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PASADENA, Calif. — Astronomers have spotted a swirling debris cloud around a sun-like star where terrestrial planets similar to Earth may be forming in a process that could shed light on the birth of the solar system.
The star, located 137 light-years away, appears to possess an asteroid belt, a zone where the leftovers of failed planets collide. Terrestrial planets are those with rocky surfaces, as opposed to a gas composition.
Scientists estimate the star is about 30 million years old — about the same age as our sun when terrestrial planets like Earth were nearly formed.
"This is one of a very rare class of objects that may give us a glimpse into what our solar system may have looked like," the Space Science Institute's Dean Hines, who led the discovery, said in a statement.
Using the Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers measured the temperature of the debris disk to be minus 262 degrees Fahrenheit, warmer than other similar disks. The sun has a surface temperature between 5,000 and 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Earlier this year, another team using the Spitzer telescope announced the discovery of another asteroid belt orbiting a 2-billion-year-old sun-like star 35 light-years away.
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