INNER PART OBSERVATION OF THE BETA-PICTORIS DISK

The inner regions of the circumstellar disk around beta Pictoris might be dust-free due to a possible planet which may have cleared up dust particles. We present a new observational technique based on the use o f an anti-blooming CCD in order to directly image this zone. The struc ture of the disk is revealed down to 2 arcsec from the star (30 AU). W e show that the beta Pic disk brightness is neutral in V, R, and I(C), but drops down when going inward in B, possibly related to a change i n the dust composition. Also, a slight disk asymmetry is present but i nverted from the outer to the inner zones.