First Signature of Extrasolar Asteroid Belt
By Mark Perew
June 5, 2001

PASADENA, Calif.
Our asteroid belt is not alone. While disks of dust are known to exist at ranges comparable to our Kuiper Belt, until now scientists have never found an analogue to the belt of minor planets between Mars and Jupiter. On Monday, two researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles released their findings here at the 198th meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

Using the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, Christine Chen, a UCLA graduate student, and her advisor, Professor Michael Jura, took infrared images of the star zeta Leporis. Their analysis shows a ring of dust and debris from about about 2.5 to 6.1 astronomical units from zeta Leporis. Our local asteroid belt orbits 2.1 to 3.3 AU from our sun.
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Dan