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Collection:
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NASA Spitzer Space Telescope Collection
Collection
NASA Spitzer Space Telescope Collection
Collection
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Title:
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Circumbinary Disk
Title
Circumbinary Disk
Title
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Description:
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This artist concept shows a debris disk that has been observed around an unusual class of interacting binary stars. The type of cataclysmic variable system being studied consists of a highly magnetic white dwarf star (a "dead" remnant star formed from the core of a star like our Sun when it exhausts the available fuel to support nuclear fusion) and a very low-mass, cool object similar to a brown dwarf. The two objects orbit so closely -- about the distance from Earth to the Moon -- that they make a complete revolution about each other in only 80-90 minutes. The white dwarf is Earth-sized but weighs about 60 percent of the mass of the Sun, while the companion star is Jupiter-sized but has about 40-50 times the mass of Jupiter.
Description
This artist concept shows a debris disk that has been observed around an unusual class of interacting binary stars. The type of cataclysmic variable system being studied consists of a highly magnetic white dwarf star (a "dead" remnant star formed from the core of a star like our Sun when it exhausts the available fuel to support nuclear fusion) and a very low-mass, cool object similar to a brown dwarf. The two objects orbit so closely -- about the distance from Earth to the Moon -- that they make a complete revolution about each other in only 80-90 minutes. The white dwarf is Earth-sized but weighs about 60 percent of the mass of the Sun, while the companion star is Jupiter-sized but has about 40-50 times the mass of Jupiter.
Description
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Release Credit:
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P. Marenfeld and NOAO/AURA/NSF
Release_Credit
P. Marenfeld and NOAO/AURA/NSF
Release Credit
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Related links:
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Related_links
Related links
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facet_what:
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Earth
facet_what
Earth
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Jupiter
facet_what
Jupiter
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Sun
facet_what
Sun
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Aura
facet_what
Aura
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Moon
facet_what
Moon
facet_what
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facet_where:
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Jupiter
facet_where
Jupiter
facet_where
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Image #:
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sig06-001
Image_#
sig06-001
Image #
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original url:
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original_url
original url
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UID:
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SPD-SPITZ-sig06-001
UID
SPD-SPITZ-sig06-001
UID
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