One of the results reported here at the AAS meeting is what astronomers think are almost “real time” views of collisions of planetoids in a dust disk surrounding the star Beta Pictoris. It turns out that when these little bodies crash into each other they send out clouds of particles, which then dissipate. Judging by the rate of dissipation and the extent of such a cloud, astronomers have been able to figure out that the cloud of material they’ve observed in Beta Pic’s circumstellar disk came from a collision that could have happened as little as a hundred years ago! This artist’s conception shows what the system would look like if you could be on the scene, viewing it with infrared-enhanced eyes. If you want to see additional images and discussion, point your browser to the link above and enjoy!