Scientists spot two mega solar systems

Scientists have found evidence of two mega solar systems giant stars enveloped by what appear to be huge disks of planet-forming dust, they said on Wednesday.

Scientists have found evidence of two mega solar systems giant stars enveloped by what appear to be huge disks of planet-forming dust, they said on Wednesday. The appearance of cloudy disks around stars are believed to represent current or future planetary systems.

Our sun is surrounded by the Kuiper Belt, a disk containing dust, comets and other bodies. Astronomers say the latest findings through NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope were surprising because such massive stars are thought to be inhospitable to the formation of planets.

"Our data suggest that the planet-forming process may be hardier than previously believed, occurring around even the most massive stars," Joel Kastner of the Rochester Institute of Technology, said in a statement. Results appear in the February 10 issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The new stars are believed to be 30 to 70 times more massive than the sun. They were found during a survey of 60 bright stars. Last year, another team of scientists discovered what they believe was a mini solar system. The team found a dust cloud around a brown dwarf, or failed star.

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