A Spitzer View of the epsilon Eridani Planetary System

Epsilon Eridani is a younger, dustier solar system analog.
With an age of 850 Myr and a spectral type of K2V, it is a
young main  sequence star with a mass just below that of the Sun.
It harbors a dusty "debris disk" found by IRAS and first
imaged at sub-mm wavelengths, roughly the size of our own Kuiper belt.
It is also home  of at least one Jupiter-size planet,
found with radial velocity  techniques. These characteristics,
and the proximity of epsilon  Eridani to the Sun,
make it the ideal subject to study what could  have been
the early history of our own solar system. The Spitzer Space Telescope,
with its high sensitivity and stability, offers a  unique perspective
to complete this picture, at wavelengths where the dust emission
from the disk are stronger, and it is easier to search for
direct emission from sub-stellar companions.