The β Pictoris moving group

Following the 1983 IRAS detection and subsequent imaging of its extensive dusty circumstellar disk, beta Pictoris became the prototypical and most studied example of a potential forming planetary system. Here we report the identification of 17 star systems, each with one or more characteristics indicative of extreme youth, that are moving through space together with beta Pic. This diverse set of similar to 12 million yr old star systems, which includes a similar to 35 Jupiter mass brown dwarf, and a wide assortment of dusty circumstellar disks, is the comoving, youthful group closest to Earth. Their unique combination of youth and proximity to Earth makes group members-many of which have masses similar to that of the Sun-prime candidates for imaging of warm planets and dusty circumstellar disks with ground- and space-based telescopes.