Lots of Carbon Found in Debris Disk Around Beta Pictoris
NASA Scientists Find Infant Solar System Awash in Carbon
“Scientists using NASA’s Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer, or FUSE, have discovered abundant amounts of carbon gas in a dusty disk surrounding a well-studied young star named Beta Pictoris.”
The Carbon-Rich Gas in the Beta Pictoris Circumstellar Disk
“Here we report the detection of singly and doubly ionized carbon (CII, CIII) and neutral atomic oxygen (OI) gas in the Beta Pic disk; measurement of these abundant volatile species permits a much more complete gas inventory. Carbon is extremely overabundant relative to every other measured element.[Accepted for publication in Nature].”
“NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT Wednesday, June 7, about the discovery of carbon-rich gas around a young star that may be forming terrestrial planets. The discovery was made with NASA’s Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer spacecraft and will be featured in the June 8 issue of Nature.”
