Asteroid Belt Discovered Around Our Sun's "Twin"

loid_void writes "that the National Geographic is reporting evidence of a massive asteroid belt around a "twin" of our own sun has been found. Kim Weaver, a Spitzer Space Telescope scientist, said the finding marks "the first time that scientists have found evidence for a massive asteroid belt around a mature, sunlike star." "This region around the star is the sort of place where rocky planets [like Earth] may form," The star, dubbed HD69830, is some 41 light-years away--which, in space terms, is practically our own backyard. Part of the constellation Puppis, the star is a tad too faint to see with the unaided eye."

Could this be

[perdu]

The remnants of Alderaan [starwars.com]!

Re:Could this be

[Anonymous Coward]

What kind of a geek are you, Alderaan is in a galaxy far far away.

Re:Could this be

[fvbommel]

What kind of a geek are you? Alderaan was in a galaxy far far away. (It was blown up a long, long time ago, you know)

Re:Could this be

[Gulthek]

Right, so we are just getting the light now.

Re:Could this be

[qurk]

Well, you know some theories make the universe a torus or donut shape, maybe the light started 40 something light years away, went the looooong way around, and is just getting here now!

Re:Could this be

[Gulthek]

Hey...that's just crazy enough to work!

"Your idea of a donut-shaped universe intrigues me Homer; I may have to steal it." - Stephen Hawking on The Simpsons.

The elements have to go somewhere

[redelm]

In a second-generation starsystem, there's a pile of heavier fusion products (Silicon, Iron, Oxygen) left over. They've got to go somewhere. Is it surprising they wind up in the same spot, having started from the same solar core strata?

More interesting would be why why didn't coalesce into rocky planets. Perhaps the influence of gas giants?

Re:The elements have to go somewhere

[Stoutlimb]

Why do you think they didn't coalesce into rocky planets? There could certainly be some, but I doubt they would be habitable.

I think there are some explanations for this. Either the asteroid field is more recent than ours, therefore denser. Either that, or that the configuration of planets in that system are keeping the asteroid field in place.

Either that, or we are looking at a normal asteroid field for a star of that age and size. Our field could be unusually small, and how would we know it?

Re:The elements have to go somewhere

[FirienFirien]

There could certainly be some, but I doubt they would be habitable. visibility can always be called into question too. An asteroid belt is small, sure, but it goes all the way round, and so may be easier to happen to spot. Planets are small AND only at one point in the orbit at any time.

Re:The elements have to go somewhere

[blamanj]

I was under the impression that the reason Sol has an asteroid belt was that the gravitational influence of Jupiter precluded planet formation there.

If this is true, (and is it?) does that imply an undiscovered large planet in that system?

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:The elements have to go somewhere

[helioquake]

Why do you think they didn't coalesce into rocky planets? There could certainly be some, but I doubt they would be habitable.

...maybe not yet. The timescale of these dusts and rocks to coalesce is hard to estimate. Someday (in a few hundred million years) some planets -- gas or solid -- may form out of them.

I wouldn't be surprised if some planet searchers go after this star to see if its spectral lines "wobble", i.e., detecting the sign of an orbiting object(s) around the star (or have they done it?).

I think I speak for all when I say:

[Fitzroy_Doll]

I for one welcome our new astroid-dwelling neighbours!

How massive?

[p3d0]

The National Geographic story refers to the asteroid belt as "massive", but neither NG nor NASA [nasa.gov] say just how massive. So why is it being referred to as "massive"? Are we talking mass-of-Jupiter here?

Re:How massive?

[some_schmuck]

"It is thicker than the asteroid belt in our own solar system, which lies between Mars and Jupiter and packs nearly 25 times more debris."

Re:How massive?

[p3d0]

Ah, thanks. I had been looking for the word "mass".

Apropos quote

[stjobe]

Apropos qoute of the day from the bottom of this page:

"I say we take off; nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure." - Corporal Hicks, in "Aliens"