A
debris disk is a
circumstellar disk of dust and debris in orbit around a
star. Sometimes these disks contain prominent rings, as seen in the image of
Fomalhaut on the right. Debris disks have been found around both mature and young stars, as well as at least one debris disk in orbit around an evolved
neutron star. Younger debris disks can constitute a phase in the formation of a planetary system following the
protoplanetary disk phase, when terrestrial planets may finish growing. They can also be produced and maintained as the remnants of collisions between planetesimals, otherwise known as asteroids and comets.