Following the 1983 IRAS detection and subsequent imaging of its extensive d
usty circumstellar disk, beta Pictoris became the prototypical and most stu
died example of a potential forming planetary system. Here we report the id
entification of 17 star systems, each with one or more characteristics indi
cative of extreme youth, that are moving through space together with beta P
ic. This diverse set of similar to 12 million yr old star systems, which in
cludes a similar to 35 Jupiter mass brown dwarf, and a wide assortment of d
usty circumstellar disks, is the comoving, youthful group closest to Earth.
Their unique combination of youth and proximity to Earth makes group membe
rs-many of which have masses similar to that of the Sun-prime candidates fo
r imaging of warm planets and dusty circumstellar disks with ground- and sp
ace-based telescopes.