Dusty Planetary Disks Around Two Nearby Stars Resemble Our Kuiper Belt

FOR RELEASE: January 19, 2006

PHOTO NO.: STScI-PRC06-05

DUSTY PLANETARY DISKS AROUND TWO NEARBY STARS RESEMBLE OUR KUIPER BELT

These two bright debris disks of ice and dust appear to be the
equivalent of our own solar system's Kuiper Belt, a ring of icy rocks
outside the orbit of Neptune and the source of short-period comets. The
disks encircle the types of stars around which there could be habitable
zones and planets for life to develop. The disks seem to have a central
area cleared of debris, perhaps by planets.

For images and more information about this research on the Web, visit:
http://hubblesite.org/news/2006/05
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/r...9_kuiper.shtml

For additional information, contact:
Robert Sanders, University of California, Berkeley, Calif.,
(phone) 510/643-6998, (e-mail) or

Paul Kalas, University of California, Berkeley, Calif.
(e-mail) or

Ray Villard, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.,
(phone) 410-338-4514, (e-mail)

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Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore conducts Hubble
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Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc.,
Washington.