Illustration shows the location of the star HD 131488's dust belts (top) and comparable regions to our own solar system (bottom). HD 131488's hot, inner dust belt has similar separations from its host star as the terrestrial planet zone (TPZ) around our sun, while the star's cool dust belt has similar separations from its host star as the Kuiper Belt region in our solar system. Also shown for our solar system are the orbits of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Astronomers using the Gemini South Telescope in Chile found dusty evidence of the formation of young, rocky planets around HD 131488, some 500 light years distant. In studying the aftermath of collisions between planetary embryos around this star, the researchers discovered that the dusty debris bear no resemblance to the planetary building blocks of our own solar system. To learn more about this discovery, see the Gemini news story "Astronomers say alien dust is nothing to sneeze at.>> "http://www.gemini.edu/node/11385 (Date of Image: 2009) [Image 2 of 2 related images. Back to Image 1.] http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/mmg_disp.cfm?med_id=69056&from=mmg
Credit: Lynette Cook for Gemini Observatory/AURA
