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A lopsided debris disk found around a distant star looks like a glowing, blue space needle – astronomers have revealed.

The finding could hint at new hidden planets in the system or other interactions with neighboring stars.

Astronomers suppose that the debris disk (around the star HD 15115) might be affected by extrasolar planets in nearby systems that have elliptical orbits. A possible culprit is HIP 12545, a star located about 10 light years away from HD 15115.

Debris disks are theorized to be made up of left over material from planet formation. Debris disks are somewhat similar to the Kuiper Belt in our own solar system – the region beyond the orbit of Neptune – that is populated with thousands of icy, rock objects (Pluto is considered one of these).

The ‘Blue Needle’ is about the same distance from its star that the Kuiper Belt is from our sun. However it extends about 10 times further to at least 550 times the distance between Earth and the sun.

Debris disks are believed to be replenished by dust created during collisions between celestial objects. In the same way that Neptune’s gravity can sometimes affect the Kuiper Belt Objects, planets close to HD 15115 can affect the shape of the debris disk.

According to one theory, Neptune formed between Saturn and Uranus but was shot out into the farther reaches of the solar system as a direct result of gravitational forces between Saturn and Jupiter. If a similar planetary upheaval was occurring around HD 15115 it might explain the highly asymmetric disk. But the debris disk around HD 15115 is more asymmetric than those around other stars and contains significantly less dust. It is possible that the mechanism which perturbed the disk into its current shape also cut away a significant portion of the mass.

It is not known if the needle-shape of the debris disk is permanent or whether it might flatten out into a more conventional shape at a later time.

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