Circumstellar Dust is astronomical dust

Cosmic dust

Cosmic dust is a type of dust composed of particles in space which are a few molecules to 0.1 µm in size. Cosmic dust can be further distinguished by its astronomical location; for example: intergalactic dust, interstellar dust, interplanetary dust and circumplanetary dust .In our own Solar...

 around a star

Star

A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...

. It can be in the form of a spherical shell or a disk, e.g. an accretion disk. Circumstellar dust can be responsible for significant extinction

Extinction (astronomy)

Extinction is a term used in astronomy to describe the absorption and scattering of electromagnetic radiation by matter between an emitting astronomical object and the observer. Interstellar extinction—also called Galactic extinction, when it occurs in the Milky Way—was first...

 and is usually the source of an infrared excess

Infrared excess

An infrared excess is a measurement of an astronomical source, typically a star, that has a greater measured infrared flux than expected by assuming the star is a blackbody radiator. Infrared excesses are often the result of circumstellar dust and are common in young stellar objects and evolved...

 for stars that have it.

The motion of circumstellar dust is governed by forces due to stellar gravity and radiation pressure

Radiation pressure

Radiation pressure is the pressure exerted upon any surface exposed to electromagnetic radiation. If absorbed, the pressure is the power flux density divided by the speed of light...

.

Circumstellar dust in our own solar system causes the zodiacal light

Zodiacal light

Zodiacal light is a faint, roughly triangular, whitish glow seen in the night sky which appears to extend up from the vicinity of the sun along the ecliptic or zodiac. Caused by sunlight scattered by space dust in the zodiacal cloud, it is so faint that either moonlight or light pollution renders...

.