Astronomers have discovered about 160 planets in other solar systems called extrasolar planets or exoplanets. Using the Spitzer Space Telescope’s infrared ability, a team of astronomers led by Charles Beichman of Caltech discovered warm dust indicating a dense asteroid belt, or exo-asteroid belt, in the constellation Puppis (the Deck) at the star designated as HD 69830.

The star is very similar to the sun in age and mass. The rocky ring believed to be an asteroid belt is about 25 times more massive than our asteroid belt. It is located in an orbit close to their sun, about equal to the orbital path of Venus in our solar system.