Beta Pictoris

Lore & Background

Beta Pictoris has three confirmed planets, Beta Pictoris b, Beta Pictoris c, and Beta Pictoris d. All three planets have been detected through the use of direct imaging, although Beta Pictoris c was first confirmed using the radial velocity method. The three planets are orbiting in the plane of the debris disk surrounding the star. Beta Pictoris c is currently the closest extrasolar planet to its star ever photographed: the observed separation is roughly the same as the distance between the asteroid belt and the Sun. Beta Pictoris shows an excess of infrared emission compared to normal stars of its type, which is caused by large quantities of dust and gas (including carbon monoxide) near the star. Detailed observations reveal a large disk of dust and gas orbiting the star, which was the first debris disk to be imaged around another star. In addition to the presence of several planetesimal belts and cometary activity, there are indications that planets have formed within this disk and that the processes of planet formation may be ongoing. Material from the Beta Pictoris debris disk is thought to be the dominant source of interstellar meteoroids in the Solar System.

Reader's Guide

Beta Pictoris is a star in the southern constellation of Pictor, the Easel, and is located to the west of the bright star Canopus. It traditionally marked the sounding line of the ship Argo Navis, before the constellation was split. The star has an apparent visual magnitude of 3.86, so is visible to the naked eye under good conditions, though light pollution may result in stars dimmer than magnitude 3 being too dim to see. It is the second brightest in its constellation, exceeded only by Alpha Pictoris, which has an apparent magnitude of 3.30. The distance to Beta Pictoris and many other stars was measured by the Hipparcos satellite. This was done by measuring its trigonometric parallax: the slight displacement in its position observed as the Earth moves around the Sun. Beta Pictoris was found to exhibit a parallax of 51.87 milliarcseconds, a value which was later revised to 51.44 milliarcseconds when the data was reanalyzed taking systematic errors more carefully into account. The distance to Beta Pictoris is therefore 63.4 light years, with an uncertainty of 0.1 light years. The Hipparcos satellite also measured the proper motion of Beta Pictoris: it is traveling eastwards at a rate of 4.65 milliarcseconds per year, and northwards at a rate of 83.10 milliarcseconds per year. Measurements of the Doppler shift of the star's spectrum reveals it is moving away from Earth at a rate of 20 km/s. Several other stars share the same motion through space as Beta Pictoris and likely formed from the same gas cloud at roughly the same time: these comprise the Beta Pictoris moving group.

Did You Know?

• Beta Pictoris has a spectral type of A6V and an effective temperature of 8054 K.
• The star's rotational velocity is at least 130 km/s, giving a rotation period of approximately 16 hours.
• Beta Pictoris is classified as a Delta Scuti variable star, with pulsations at frequencies of 30.4 and 36.9 minutes.
• The star's angular diameter measured by interferometry is 0.84 milliarcseconds, giving a radius about 1.8 times that of the Sun.