- India Govt. willing to give safe passage to ULFA leaders Baruah, Arabinda Rajkhowa
- China told no guardianship role will be appreciated
- Indian Government says it has a plan to deal with Maoist violence
- India to get state of the art surveillance gear as part of counter-terror cooperation with US
- US-India civil nuclear deal in final stages of completion
- US to give crucial information on Headley-Rana accomplice's 26/11 role to India
Giant ring of debris in deep space may be swarming with comets
London, September 2 (ANI): Astronomers have detected a giant ring of debris around a nearby star that appears to be a much bigger version of our solar system's Kuiper belt, which may be swarming with comets.
The Kuiper belt is the region of ice-rich objects beyond Neptune that is thought to be a source of comets.
-
E-mail Article 
Printer Friendly
Text-Size 
According to a report in New Scientist, a team led by Christine Chen of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, used the orbiting Spitzer Space Telescope and the Gemini South telescope in Chile to study infrared light from the disc around HD 181327, which lies about 150 light years from Earth.
They saw a peak in brightness at a wavelength of around 63 micrometres, which is characteristic of water ice.
"We now have evidence that the composition is similar to our Kuiper belt," said Chen.
The disc has a radius of about 12 billion kilometers, roughly twice the size of the Kuiper belt. It is also exceptionally bright, suggesting that it holds a lot of material, which indicates that the system may be swarming with comets. (ANI)
Giant panda that survived China quake gives birth to twins.
Giant perennial grass Miscanthus outperforms current biofuels sources.
Giant clams fed first modern humans moving out of Africa.
Giant ring of debris in deep space may be swarming with comets.
Giant furnace opens to reveal "perfect" telescope mirror.