Debris Disks Surround Distant Suns

In this dramatic artist's vision, debris along the outer reaches of a planet
forming disk orbits in the glare of a distant sun. But inset are actual images
of such disks around two nearby stars - AU Microscopii (top left; edge-on) and
HD107146 (right: face-on) - as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. Combined with
infrared images from the Spitzer Space Telescope that show debris disks around
known planet bearing stars, the data provide the first direct link between extrasolar
disks and planets, suggesting a scenario where evolving planets scatter debris
produced by collisions into giant disks. In time, the dusty disks may dwindle and
become like our own Solar System's comet reservoir, the Kuiper Belt.