 |
|
Solar System's Young Twin Has Two Asteroid Belts
October 28, 2008Cambridge, MA - Astronomers have discovered that the nearby star Epsilon Eridani has two rocky asteroid belts and an outer icy ring, making it a triple-ring system. The inner asteroid belt is a virtual twin of the belt in our solar system, while the outer asteroid belt holds 20 times more material. Moreover, the presence of these three rings of material implies that unseen planets confine and shape them.
The star Epsilon Eridani is slightly smaller and cooler than the Sun. It is located about 10.5 light-years from Earth in the constellation Eridanus. (A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, or about 6 trillion miles.) Epsilon Eridani is the ninth closest star to the Sun and is visible to the unaided eye. It is also younger than the Sun, with an approximate age of 850 million years.
Epsilon Eridani and its planetary system show remarkable similarities to our solar system at a comparable age.
"Studying Epsilon Eridani is like having a time machine to look at our solar system when it was young," said Smithsonian astronomer Massimo Marengo (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics). Marengo is a co-author of the discovery paper, which will appear in the Jan. 10 issue of The Astrophysical Journal.
Lead author Dana Backman (SETI Institute) agreed, saying, "This system probably looks a lot like ours did when life first took root on Earth."
Our solar system has a rocky asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, about 3 astronomical units from the Sun. (An astronomical unit equals the average Earth-Sun distance of 93 million miles.) In total, it contains about 1/20 the mass of Earth's Moon. Using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, the team of astronomers found an identical asteroid belt orbiting Epsilon Eridani at a similar distance of 3 astronomical units.
They also discovered a second asteroid belt 20 astronomical units from Epsilon Eridani (about where Uranus is located in our solar system). The second asteroid belt contains about as much mass as Earth's Moon.
A third, icy ring of material seen previously extends about 35 to 100 astronomical units from Epsilon Eridani. A similar icy reservoir in our solar system is called the Kuiper Belt. However, Epsilon Eridani's outer ring holds about 100 times more material than ours.
When the Sun was 850 million years old, theorists calculate that our Kuiper Belt looked about the same as that of Epsilon Eridani. Since then, much of the Kuiper Belt material was swept away, some hurled out of the solar system and some sent plunging into the inner planets in an event called the Late Heavy Bombardment. (The Moon shows evidence of the Late Heavy Bombardment - giant craters that formed the lunar seas of lava called mare.) It is possible that Epsilon Eridani will undergo a similar dramatic clearing in the future.
"Epsilon Eridani looks a lot like the young solar system, so it's conceivable that it will evolve similarly," said Marengo.
The Spitzer data show gaps between each of the three rings surrounding Epsilon Eridani. Such gaps are best explained by the presence of planets that gravitationally mold the rings, just as the moons of Saturn constrain its rings.
"Planets are the easiest way to explain what we're seeing," stated Marengo.
Specifically, three planets with masses between those of Neptune and Jupiter would fit the observations nicely. A candidate planet near the innermost ring already has been detected by radial velocity studies. Those studies suggested that it orbited Epsilon Eridani on a highly elliptical path, characterized by an eccentricity of 0.7. The new finding rules out such an orbit, because the planet would have cleared out the inner asteroid belt long ago through gravitational disruption.
A second planet must lurk near the second asteroid belt, and a third at about 35 astronomical units near the inner edge of Epsilon Eridani's Kuiper Belt. Future studies may detect these currently unseen worlds, as well as any terrestrial planets that may orbit inside the innermost asteroid belt.
Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) is a joint collaboration between the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Harvard College Observatory. CfA scientists, organized into six research divisions, study the origin, evolution and ultimate fate of the universe.
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA)
"Studying Epsilon Eridani is like having a time machine to look at our solar system when it was young," said Smithsonian astronomer Massimo Marengo (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics). Marengo is a co-author of the discovery paper, which will appear in the Jan. 10 issue of The Astrophysical Journal.
Lead author Dana Backman (SETI Institute) agreed, saying, "This system probably looks a lot like ours did when life first took root on Earth."
Our solar system has a rocky asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, about 3 astronomical units from the Sun. (An astronomical unit equals the average Earth-Sun distance of 93 million miles.) In total, it contains about 1/20 the mass of Earth's Moon. Using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, the team of astronomers found an identical asteroid belt orbiting Epsilon Eridani at a similar distance of 3 astronomical units.
They also discovered a second asteroid belt 20 astronomical units from Epsilon Eridani (about where Uranus is located in our solar system). The second asteroid belt contains about as much mass as Earth's Moon.
A third, icy ring of material seen previously extends about 35 to 100 astronomical units from Epsilon Eridani. A similar icy reservoir in our solar system is called the Kuiper Belt. However, Epsilon Eridani's outer ring holds about 100 times more material than ours.
When the Sun was 850 million years old, theorists calculate that our Kuiper Belt looked about the same as that of Epsilon Eridani. Since then, much of the Kuiper Belt material was swept away, some hurled out of the solar system and some sent plunging into the inner planets in an event called the Late Heavy Bombardment. (The Moon shows evidence of the Late Heavy Bombardment - giant craters that formed the lunar seas of lava called mare.) It is possible that Epsilon Eridani will undergo a similar dramatic clearing in the future.
"Epsilon Eridani looks a lot like the young solar system, so it's conceivable that it will evolve similarly," said Marengo.
The Spitzer data show gaps between each of the three rings surrounding Epsilon Eridani. Such gaps are best explained by the presence of planets that gravitationally mold the rings, just as the moons of Saturn constrain its rings.
"Planets are the easiest way to explain what we're seeing," stated Marengo.
Specifically, three planets with masses between those of Neptune and Jupiter would fit the observations nicely. A candidate planet near the innermost ring already has been detected by radial velocity studies. Those studies suggested that it orbited Epsilon Eridani on a highly elliptical path, characterized by an eccentricity of 0.7. The new finding rules out such an orbit, because the planet would have cleared out the inner asteroid belt long ago through gravitational disruption.
A second planet must lurk near the second asteroid belt, and a third at about 35 astronomical units near the inner edge of Epsilon Eridani's Kuiper Belt. Future studies may detect these currently unseen worlds, as well as any terrestrial planets that may orbit inside the innermost asteroid belt.
Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) is a joint collaboration between the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Harvard College Observatory. CfA scientists, organized into six research divisions, study the origin, evolution and ultimate fate of the universe.
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA)
Asteroid Belt Current Events and Asteroid Belt News RSSNullarbor fireball cameras find rare meteorite
Using cameras which capture fireballs streaking across the night sky and sophisticated mathematics, a world-wide team of scientists have managed to find not only a tiny meteorite on the vast Nullarbor Plain, but also its orbit and the asteroid it came from.
Sharpest views of Betelgeuse reveal how supergiant stars lose mass
Using different state-of-the-art techniques on ESO's Very Large Telescope, two independent teams of astronomers have obtained the sharpest ever views of the supergiant star Betelgeuse.
Primitive asteroids in the main asteroid belt may have formed far from the sun
Many of the objects found today in the asteroid belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter may have formed in the outermost reaches of the solar system.
Cosmic connections: Imperial scientist locates the origin of cosmic dust
The research, published in the journal Geology, shows that some of the cosmic dust falling to Earth comes from an ancient asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars. This research improves our knowledge of the solar system, and could provide a new and inexpensive method for understanding space.
Plutoid chosen as name for Solar System objects like Pluto
Almost two years after the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly introduced the category of dwarf planets, the IAU, as promised, has decided on a name for transneptunian dwarf planets similar to Pluto.
Stardust comet dust resembles asteroid materials
Contrary to expectations for a small icy body, much of the comet dust returned by the Stardust mission formed very close to the young sun and was altered from the solar system's early materials.
Rosetta closes in on Earth - a second time
ESA's comet chaser, Rosetta, is on its way to its second close encounter with Earth on 13 November. The spacecraft's operators are leaving no stones unturned to make sure Earth's gravity gives it the exact boost it needs en route to its destination.
Planets like earth may have formed around other stars, UCLA astronomers report
The chemical fingerprint of a burned-out star indicates that Earth-like planets may not be rare in the universe and could give clues to what our solar system will look like when our sun dies and becomes a white dwarf star some five billion years from now.
UCLA's Christopher Russell leads NASA's Dawn Mission, set for July 7 launch
Christopher T. Russell, UCLA professor of geophysics and space physics, has spent 15 years working on NASA's Dawn mission to the doughnut-shaped asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. As the scheduled July 7 launch from Cape Canaveral nears, Russell is ready, and so is Dawn.
Amateurs and professionals combine observations to produce detailed picture of double asteroid
Roping together observations from the world's largest telescopes as well as the small instrument of a local backyard amateur, astronomers have assembled the most complete picture yet of a pair of asteroids whirling around one another in a perpetual pas de deux.
More Asteroid Belt Current Events and Asteroid Belt News Articles
 |
Asteroid Belt Emc (Primary Contributor) |
|
Double the rubble: neighboring star system hosts two asteroid belts: Epsilon Eridani may shed light on youthful solar system.(Atom & Cosmos): An article from: Science News by Ron Cowen (Author) This digital document is an article from Science News, published by Science Service, Inc. on November 22, 2008. The length of the article is 617 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser. Citation Details Title: Double the rubble: neighboring star system hosts two asteroid belts: Epsilon Eridani may shed light on youthful solar system.(Atom & Cosmos) Author: Ron Cowen Publication: Science News (Magazine/Journal) Date: November 22, 2008 Publisher: Science Service, Inc. Volume: 174 Issue: 11 Page: 13(1) Distributed by Gale, a part of Cengage... | |
 |
A Massive Asteroid Belt in Orbit Around a Star the Same Age and Size as Our Sun Photographic Poster Print by Stocktrek Images, 16x12 by Art.com Art.com is the world's largest retailer of art prints, posters, photographs, and framed artwork. With our huge selection of over 400,000 prints, you'll easily find the perfect piece for your home, office, or classroom. Our art is printed on quality paper. When you order framed artwork, the piece is built by our team of in-house professionals. Visit our Amazon store today at www.amazon.com/artdotcom to find Special Offers and search for products based on 'Artist Name' and 'Subject Categories' such as Movie, Music, Vintage, TV, Children, Travel, Kitchen, Museum Art, Animals, Floral, Motivational, and Sports. Art.com is dedicated to providing you with high quality products and service by offering you 100% satisfaction guaranteed. We ship internationally to over 80 countries. Decorate your... |
 |
Return of the Fighting 69th Starring: Peter Graves, Woody Strode Directed By: Philip Leacock Also With: Glen A. Larson (Producer), David G. Phinney (Producer), David Bennett Carren (Writer) |
 |
Unisex PAC MAN Metal Belt Buckle Style BU269 by Neves |
|
Asteroid Belt | |
 |
The Asteroid Belt Imagine If (Primary Contributor) |
 |
2038: Tycoons of the Asteroid Belt by Tim Jim Games 2038: Tycoons of the Asteroid Belt uses the same core rules as the 1829 railroad game by Hartland Trefoil. Game begins with 1 corporation and up to 6 independents mining in an asteroid belt. Game play includes three rounds each turn: the Stock Round and two Operating Rounds. During the Stock Round, players make the economic choices that will have long term impacts on the game. Options include having the company go public, buying or selling shares of other corporations, and how to invest company profits. During the Operating Rounds, players focus on the short term impacts of the game. Options include relying on the existing fleet or purchasing newer, bigger and faster ships, continue mining existing settlements or explore new ones, develop new mines for profit or simply to deny opponents... |
 |
Nebular Hypothesis: Nebular hypothesis. History of Solar System formation and evolution hypotheses, Protostar, Protoplanetary disk, Formation and evolution ... System, History of the Earth, Asteroid belt by Frederic P. Miller (Editor), Agnes F. Vandome (Editor), John McBrewster (Editor) Nebular hypothesis. History of Solar System formation and evolution hypotheses, Protostar, Protoplanetary disk, Formation and evolution of the Solar System, History of the Earth, Asteroid belt, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud, Bok globule, Herbig?Haro object, T Tauri star, Emanuel Swedenborg, Immanuel Kant |
|
|
A Massive Asteroid Belt in Orbit Around a Star the Same Age and Size as Our Sun Art Photographic Poster Print by Stocktrek Images, 16x12 by AllPosters.com AllPosters.com is the world's #1 seller of posters, prints, photographs, specialty products and framed art. We're dedicated to bringing our customers the best selection of high quality wall décor that is perfect for their home or office. Browse our catalog of over 300,000 items that include entertainment and specialty posters, decorative prints, and art reproductions. Whether you're looking for your favorite movie or music poster, a framed Monet reproduction, or a print of the Eiffel Tower you will find it at AllPosters.com. Visit our Amazon store today at www.amazon.com/allposters to find Special Offers and search by subject category or artist. AllPosters.com provides unmatched service with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. We ship internationally to over 80 countries. Decorate your... |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |