A Herschel resolved far-infrared dust ring around HD207129 (J.P. Marshall et al.)
- Details
- Published on 12 April 2011
Vol. 529
In section 6. Interstellar and circumstellar matter
A Herschel resolved far-infrared dust ring around HD207129
Debris disks around nearby stars are thought to be young evolving planetary systems. Understanding such systems clearly requires direct measurements of their structure, and the paper by Marshall et al. highlighted in this issue exploits the potential of the PACS instrument on HERSCHEL to provide a far-infrared image of the disk surrounding HD 207129 with unparalleled resolution. What they find is a ring of 140 AU, which is roughly that of the Sun's Kuiper-Edgeworth belt. How common this is and to what extent different planitesimal systems evolve in different fashions are questions for the future.