BETA PICTORIS

'Beta Pictoris' (β Pic / β Pictoris) is the second brightest star in the constellation Pictor. The β Pic system is very young, only 8-20 million years old^[1] although it is already on the main sequence.^[2]
The star β Pictoris shows an excess of infrared emission compared to normal stars of its type. This excess comes from dust near the star. Detailed observations reveal a large disk of dust and gas orbiting the star, called a debris disk.
New studies using a NASA ultraviolet space telescope called FUSE have discovered that this disk contains a surprising overabundance of carbon gas. Currently, the two suggested explanations for this are 1) β Pic might be in the process of forming exotic carbon-rich worlds, in contrast to the oxygen-rich Earth, or 2) it is passing through an unknown phase that might also have occurred early in the development of our solar system.^[3]
The star-system's disk extends more than 500 AUs away from β Pictoris, and shows a warp-like shape in the inner region. This suggests the presence of a massive object, perhaps a brown dwarf or a gas giant planet, orbiting the star and causing the disk's odd shape; however, the existence of this object has not yet been confirmed.^[4]

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References

External links

References

1. {{cite journal| url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2001ApJ...562L..87Z&db_key=AST&data_type=HTML&format=&high=3fce385bfb01363| title= The β Pictoris Moving Group| last=Zuckerman| first=B.| coauthors= Song, Inseok; Bessell, M. S.; Webb, R. A.| journal= The Astrophysical Journal| volume=562| issue =1| pages= L87-L90| month=November| year=2001| id=
2. Dust in beta PIC / VEGA Main Sequence Systems, D.E. Backman, , , Bulliten of the American Astronomical Society,
3. NASA's Fuse Finds Infant Solar System Awash in Carbon
4. beta Pictoris b

External links

★ The Circumstellar Disk Learning Site

★ Bright Star Catalog

★ Beta Pictoris

★ Dr. David Jewitt's page on Beta Pic

★ Beta Pictoris at SolStation.

★ ARICNS

★ SEDS entry