In an exposure device, a beam emitted from a light emitting point of a
laser diode (LD) is limited by a slit. The slit limits a light beam in a
direction orthogonal to an active layer of the LD. The exposure device
has a moving mechanism which moves a plate in which the slit is provided,
in a direction orthogonal to the plate. Object points are different at a
beam and at flare light. Therefore, the plate is provided in a vicinity
of the light emitting point in order to limit the light beam in the
vicinity of the light emitting point, i.e., at a place near a point where
a beam spot is smallest, and to be able to effectively block only the
flare light.