PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -
Astronomers have spotted a swirling debris cloud around a sun-like star where
terrestrial planets similar to Earth may be forming in a process that could
shed light on the birth of the solar system.
The star, located 137
light-years away, appears to possess an asteroid belt, a zone where the
leftovers of failed planets collide. Terrestrial planets are those with rocky
surfaces, as opposed to a gas composition.
Scientists estimate the
star is about 30 million years old - about the same age as our sun when
terrestrial planets like Earth were nearly formed.
"This
is one of a very rare class of objects that may give us a glimpse into what our
solar system may have looked like,'' the Space Science Institute's Dean Hines,
who led the discovery, said in a statement.
Using the Spitzer Space
Telescope, astronomers measured the temperature of the debris disk to be minus
262 degrees Fahrenheit, warmer than other similar disks. The sun has a surface
temperature between 5,000 and 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Earlier this year, another
team using the Spitzer telescope announced the discovery of another asteroid
belt orbiting a 2-billion-year-old sun-like star 35 light-years away.
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