Rings Seen Around Sunlike Stars |
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Written by spacetravel.org
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Sunday, 22 January 2006 21:51 |
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Researchers led by Paul Kalas of the University of California in Berkeley, US, using the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys, have imaged two disks of rocky material around relatively old, Sun-like stars, approximately 60 light-years from Earth. Information about these disks may provide knowledge about the formation and structure of the Kuiper Belt in our Solar System.
One of the disks, around a star called HD 53143, has a belt measuring more than 55 AU across. The other, around a star called HD 139664 is only 26 AU wide.
The work by Kalas and his team brings the total number of disks seen at visible wavelengths to nine.
These two disks are among the most likely to host planetary systems that could support life. HD 139664 is 300 million years old, and HD 53143 is 1 billion years old. Both stars are similar to in mass and luminosity to the Sun. This means they will live for billions of years, which may be long enough for life to form.
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