Researchers will take stock of the dust in the debris disk surrounding the nearby star Beta Pictoris.
Planetary systems are very busy places. In addition to the planets orbiting their host star, planetary systems are chock full of dust and other fragments left over from planet formation – a debris disk. Our own solar system includes the Kuiper Belt, which begins beyond Neptune. Younger systems, though, are a bit less "organized." Take Beta Pictoris, a planetary system only 63 light-years away with a mature star, at least two planets, and the first comets discovered outside our solar system. Although researchers have observed it with powerful space- and ground-based telescopes since the 1980s, there's still a lot we don't yet know about its overall makeup. That's why researchers will study the dusty disk of Beta Pictoris with Webb to better map out its dusty contents.
Find additional articles, images, and videos at WebbTelescope.org
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