The recent identification of several groups of young stars within 100 parsecs of the Sun has generated widespread interest .
Given their proximity and possible age differences , these systems are ideally suited for detailed studies of star and planet formation .
Here we report on the first investigation of protoplanetary disks in one such group , the high-latitude cloud MBM 12 at a distance of \sim 65 pc .
We present mid-infrared observations of the eight candidate pre-main-sequence ( PMS ) members and the two main-sequence ( MS ) stars in the same line-of-sight which may or may not be associated with the group .
We have also derived H \alpha and Li line widths from medium-resolution optical spectra .
We report the discovery of significant mid-infrared excess from six PMS stars –LkH \alpha 262 , LkH \alpha 263 , LkH \alpha 264 , E02553+2018 , RXJ0258.3+1947 and S18 –presumably due to optically thick circumstellar disks .
Our flux measurements for the other two PMS stars and the two MS stars are consistent with photospheric emission , allowing us to rule out dusty inner disks .
The disks we have found in MBM 12 represent the nearest known sample of very young protoplanetary systems , and thus are prime targets for high-resolution imaging at infrared and millimeter wavelengths .