Search for Exozodiacal Dust: Are Vega-like Stars Common ?

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Possible observations of Vega-like stars by the ASTRO-F and the HII/L2 3.5m space telescope are proposed. Vega-like stars are main sequence stars with mid-infrared and/or far-infrared excess. A few of these stars have been observed precisely at various wavelengths and it was found out that they tend to have hot (〜300K) circumstellar dust like the zodiacal dust in our solar system and warm (〜50K) dust ring around 30{50 AU from the central star. In spite of thesediscoveries, one question still remains; How many Vega-like stars are there? Mid- and far-infrared surveys by the ASTRO-F and the HII/L2 telescope will be the best ones to get the answer to this question. The ASTRO-F/FIS survey could detect `α Lyr' located at a distance of <50pc, within which roughly 150 of A-type main sequence stars exist. The HII/L2 3.5m telescope survey has the capability to detect much farther, up to 100pc. Thus, the total number of candidates will increase to as many as 〜1000.
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