Rocky Finding: Evidence of extrasolar asteroid belt

Astronomers report that they’ve obtained the best evidence yet for an asteroid belt beyond the solar system. Such a belt would suggest that the star Zeta Leporis, which lies just 70 light-years away, possesses not only asteroids but rocky planets like Earth.

CRASH CREATION? Collisions of asteroids, as in this artist’s depiction, might have created the warm dust in the belt around the nearby star Zeta Leporis.