(In the news since Dec. 2nd... and kept running into it today. I Did a quick-scan and didn't see it posted here.)

Summary: Astronomers at the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Councils UK Astronomy Technology Centre (ATC) at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh have produced compelling new evidence that Vega, one of the brightest stars in the sky, has a planetary system around it which is more like our own Solar System than any other so far discovered.

The false color image represents the heat emitted from the dust disk around Vega. The image shows the disk seen face-on. The disk structure includes two bright clumps, represented by the yellow and red colors. The star is barely noticeable and is located at the center of the image, mid-way between the two clumps. The dust were seeing is actually confined to a region relatively far from the star: more than twice as far as the distance from the Sun to Neptune. The lack of dust close to the star is the first indication that a planetary system is hiding in the hole. The modelling published today implies that this system looks very much like our own Solar System.

"The irregular shape of the disk is the clue that it is likely to contain planets" explains astronomer Mark Wyatt, the author of the paper. "Although we can't directly observe the planets, they have created clumps in the disk of dust around the star."

The modelling suggests that the Neptune-like planet actually formed much closer to the star than its current position. As it moved out to its current wide orbit over about 56 million years, many comets were swept out with it, causing the dust disk to be clumpy.

"Exactly the same process is thought to have happened in our Solar System", said Wyatt, "Neptune was 'pushed' away from the Sun because of the presence of Jupiter orbiting inside it". So it appears that as well as having a Neptune-like planet, Vega may also have a more massive Jupiter-like planet in a smaller orbit.

Facts about Vega

Vega is the fifth brightest star in the sky and the third brightest visible in the Northern hemisphere.

It is 25 light years away from the Sun (1AU is the distance between the Earth and Sun).

It has a diameter three times bigger than the Sun.

It is 58 times brighter than the Sun.

Together with Deneb and Altair, Vega forms the summer triangle.

Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, the Harp. The lyre, or harp, is supposed to have been invented by the Greek God Hermes who gave it to his half-brother Apollo. Apollo then gave it to his son Orpheus, the musician of the Argonaughts.

Vega was the first star ever to be photographed. During the night of July 16-17 1850 the historic picture was taken at Harvard Observatory using a 15 inch refractor telescope during a 100 second exposure.

From: Astrobiology Magazine

Also: JPL's Planet Quest site with link to <a href="http://www.pparc.ac.uk/Nw/vega_planet.asp>PPARC site.

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