Before the summer of 1983 we had no serious evidence of nonstellar, solid material orbiting any star other than our own. As far as we knew, our solar system might be a rare—perhaps even unique—curiosity in the Galaxy. But in the last 18 months we've learned a lot. Infrared investigations by the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) and several ground‐based telescopes have provided strong evidence for aggregates of small particles orbiting as many as 40 stars in our extended neighborhood (PHYSICS TODAY, May 1984, page 17).

Topics
Circumstellar disks, Galaxies, Ground telescopes, Infrared astronomy, Solar system
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© 1985 American Institute of Physics.
1985
American Institute of Physics
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