Detection of Extended Thermal Infrared Emission around the Vega-like Source HD 141569

We report the detection of extended IR emission at 10.8 and 18.2 µm around the Vega-like source HD 141569. Mid-IR imaging with OSCIR on Keck II shows emission from dust extending out to 100 AU from the B9.5 Ve star. Our modeling of the dust places an upper limit of approximately 2 µm on the diameter of the mid-IR-emitting particles if they are Mie spheres of astronomical silicates. Comparison of our mid-IR images to the near-IR (1.1 µm) NICMOS images of HD 141569 (Weinberger et al. 1999) shows that the mid-IR emission originates at smaller distances from the star than the scattered near-IR light, as also previously observed for the archetype Vega-like source beta Pictoris.