Debris disk is a ring-shaped disk of dust and debris in orbit around a star. By 2001, over 900 candidate stars have been found to possess a debris disk. They are usually located by examining the star system in infrared light and looking for an excess of radiation beyond that emitted by the star. This excess is inferred to be radiation from the star that has been absorbed by the disk, then radiated away as infrared energy.[1]
In certain cases the debris disks can be observed directly by occulting the primary star and then imaging the system.
In 1984 a debris disk was located in orbit around the star Vega using the IRAS satellite. Initially this was believed to be a protoplanetary disk, but it is now thought to be a debris disk by reason of the star's relative youth. Subsequently irregularities have been found in the disk, which may be indicative of the presence of planetary bodies.[2] Similar discoveries of debris disks were made around the stars Fomalhaut and Beta Pictoris.
 |
This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this sectionbyadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Debris disk" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2006) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Belts of dust or debris have also been detected around stars other than the Sun, including the following:
| Star | Distance (ly) |
Orbit (AU) |
|---|---|---|
| Epsilon Eridani | 10.5 | 35-75 |
| Vega | 25 | 86-200 |
| AU Microscopii | 33 | 210 |
| HD 69830 | 41 | <1 |
| 55 Cancri | 41 | 27-50 |
| HD 139664 | 57 | 60-109 |
| HD 53143 | 60 | ? |
| Beta Pictoris | 63 | 25-550 |
| Zeta Leporis | 70 | 2.5-12.2 |
| HD 107146 | 88 | 130 |
| Fomalhaut | 133 | 25 |
| HD 12039 | 137 | 5 |
| HR 4796A | 220 | 200 |
| HD 141569 | 320 | 400 |
| HD 113766 | 430 | 0.35-5.8 |
| HD 92945 |
The orbital distance of the belt is an estimated mean distance or range, based either on direct measurement from imaging or derived from the temperature of the belt. The Earth has an average distance from the Sun of 1 AU.
 | This astronomy-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
