Moreover, Beta Pictoris was until now the only known example of a possible planet hatchery.

ECONOMIST: Dusty genesis

For Vega and Beta Pictoris, though, the researchers found the converse.

ECONOMIST: Dusty genesis

Wayne Holland, currently at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, and his colleagues, who have just published their results in Nature, looked at three stars: Vega (350m years old), Fomalhaut (200m years), and Beta Pictoris (between 10m and 100m years), all within a few dozen light years of the earth.

ECONOMIST: Dusty genesis