However, the dot object is very red. Stars so red are rare. Astronomers suggest that, if it is a newly formed planet, it might still be releasing heat as it contracts under the weight of its own gravity. That could give it a red-hot glow. 6B also found rings of dust around two other stars.
Dust rings around a star suggest that unseen planets lurk there.
Astronomers say it takes a planet's gravitational pull to organize dust into a ring, in much the same way the rings around planets in our Solar System are produced by so-called shepherd moons. HR 4796A Hubble's picture of the young star HR 4796A showed a single thin ring of dust shining as it reflected the star's light. One way for dust to concentrate into such a ring, astronomers suggest, is for a pair of small planets to be travelling in orbits inside and outside of the dust ring. From their positions, they could shepherd the dust between them. By comparison, two of Saturn's moons, Prometheus and Pandora, were discovered by searching for the shepherds of one of the big ringed planets thin rings.