Debris disks

MIRI Image of the Fomalhaut debris disk using the ALMA telescope
Image of the Fomalhaut debris disk using the ALMA telescope.

A debris disk is a ring or disk of dust, rock, and ice that orbits a star.

Debris disks are usually made of material left over from the formation of planets. Small objects in the disk often crash into each other. These crashes create more dust and small pieces of rock.

Scientists have found debris disks around many stars. They can often be seen with infrared telescopes because the dust in the disk gives off heat.

The solar system has debris disks. The asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt are examples of areas that contain debris left over from the formation of the solar system.

  1. ↑ "Debris Disks - an overview". ScienceDirect. Retrieved 14/09/2026. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ↑ White, Jacob (2021-06-11). "Debris Disks: What Can We Learn from the Leftovers of the Planet Formation Process?". National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Retrieved 2026-09-14.
  3. ↑ Bouvier, Audrey; Wadhwa, Meenakshi (2010-09). "The age of the Solar System redefined by the oldest Pb–Pb age of a meteoritic inclusion". Nature Geoscience. 3 (9). Nature Publishing Group: 637–641. doi:10.1038/ngeo941. ISSN 1752-0908. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)