SIMBAD references

We have searched for the J = 2-1 emission of carbon monoxide (CO) from the brightest peak in the epsilon Eridani (ε Eri) dust disc - without success. The non-detection sets 3σ upper limits to the mass of CO gas in the dust peak of 3.3x10¹⁶ kg and to the total amount of (H₂) gas in the disc of 8x10¹⁹ kg. The paucity of gas in the disc (there is ∼1000x more dust) constrains the composition of orbiting comets or icy planetesimals. If these comprise the pre-eminent reservoir of dust and gas in both the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt (EKB) and the ε Eri disc then it seems unlikely that the ε Eri planetesimals can be as rich in volatiles as their EKB counterparts.