In the inner region of the 1100 AU diameter disk, images reveal a warp.
Researchers convey that the warp is caused by the gravitational pull of an unseen planet.
The disk has a clearing in its center of about 30 AU across. HST has provided strong evidence for the existence of at least one planet not too dissimilar from Jupiter in size and orbit. This indicates that Beta Pictoris might possess a planetary system similar to our own. Return to home page.