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Description
Beta Pictoris is the second brightest star in the constellation Pictor. It is located 63.4 light years from our solar system and is significantly hotter, more massive and more luminous than our Sun. The Beta Pictoris system is very young, only 8-20 million years old[10] although it is already in the main sequence stage of its evolution.[7] Beta Pictoris is the title member of the Beta Pictoris moving group, an association of young stars which share the same motion through space and have the same age.

In November 2008, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) published a press release announcing that a planet orbiting Beta Pictoris may have been imaged.

Beta Pictoris shows an excess of infrared emission compared to normal stars of its type, which is caused by large quantities of dust near the star. Detailed observations reveal a large disk of dust and gas orbiting the star, which was the first debris disk to be imaged around another star. In addition to the presence of several planetesimal belts and cometary activity, there are indications that planets have formed within this disk and that the processes of planet formation may still be ongoing.

Description
Beta Pictoris is the second brightest star in the constellation Pictor. It is located 63.4 light years from our solar system and is significantly hotter, more massive and more luminous than our Sun. The Beta Pictoris system is very young, only 8-20 million years old[10] although it is already in the main sequence stage of its evolution.[7] Beta Pictoris is the title member of the Beta Pictoris moving group, an association of young stars which share the same motion through space and have the same age.

In November 2008, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) published a press release announcing that a planet orbiting Beta Pictoris may have been imaged.

Beta Pictoris shows an excess of infrared emission compared to normal stars of its type, which is caused by large quantities of dust near the star. Detailed observations reveal a large disk of dust and gas orbiting the star, which was the first debris disk to be imaged around another star. In addition to the presence of several planetesimal belts and cometary activity, there are indications that planets have formed within this disk and that the processes of planet formation may still be ongoing.