Mike Jura

UCLA

The Evolution of Dust Around Main Sequence Stars

It is proposed that the dust around the main sequence A type star, HR 4796A,
is a proto-cometary cloud.  This star, which has an age of about 10$^{7}$years,$
Future observations with SIRTF will allow us both to infer the composition of
the circumstellar grains around main sequence stars and to investigate which
stars are forming comets or other large bodies such as planets.