Letter to the Editor

A stream of particles from the β Pictoris disc: A possible ejection mechanism

Max-Planck-Institute for Aeronomy, Max-Planck-Str. 2, 37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany e-mail: solanki@linmpi.mpg.de

Corresponding author: N. A. Krivova, natalie@linmpi.mpg.de

Received: 5 September 2002
Accepted: 12 March 2003

Abstract

Recently, a stream of particles originating from the direction of β Pictoris, a young main sequence star surrounded by a dust disc, has been reported (Baggaley [CITE]). Standard mechanisms of particle ejection from a disc fail to reproduce the properties of this stream. We find that scattering by a giant proto-planet with properties taken from the literature is consistent with the observations. The fact that a straightforward ejection mechanism reproduces the data supports the identification of the particle stream's source with β Pic. Our work also indicates that protoplanetary dust discs form a potentially rich source of large interstellar grains, as widely detected in the Solar System.