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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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Evidence for Strange Stellar Family
Title
Evidence for Strange Stellar Family
Title
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Description:
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This artist concept depicts a quadruple-star system called HD 98800. The system is approximately 10 million years old, and is located 150 light-years away in the constellation TW Hydrae.
HD 98800 contains four stars, which are paired off into doublets, or binaries. The stars in the binary pairs orbit around each other, and the two pairs also circle each other like choreographed ballerinas. One of the stellar pairs, called HD 98800B, has a disk of dust around it, while the other pair does not.
Although the four stars are gravitationally bound, the distance separating the two binary pairs is about 50 astronomical units (AU) -- slightly more than the average distance between our sun and Pluto.
Using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, scientists finally have a detailed view of HD 98800B's potential planet-forming disk. Astronomers used the telescope's infrared spectrometer to detect the presence of two belts in the disk made of large dust grains. One belt sits approximately 5.9 AU away from the central binary, or about the distance from the sun to Jupiter, and is likely made up of asteroids and comets. The other belt sits at 1.5 to 2 AU, comparable to the area where Mars and the asteroid belt sit, and consists of fine dust grains.
Description
This artist concept depicts a quadruple-star system called HD 98800. The system is approximately 10 million years old, and is located 150 light-years away in the constellation TW Hydrae.
HD 98800 contains four stars, which are paired off into doublets, or binaries. The stars in the binary pairs orbit around each other, and the two pairs also circle each other like choreographed ballerinas. One of the stellar pairs, called HD 98800B, has a disk of dust around it, while the other pair does not.
Although the four stars are gravitationally bound, the distance separating the two binary pairs is about 50 astronomical units (AU) -- slightly more than the average distance between our sun and Pluto.
Using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, scientists finally have a detailed view of HD 98800B's potential planet-forming disk. Astronomers used the telescope's infrared spectrometer to detect the presence of two belts in the disk made of large dust grains. One belt sits approximately 5.9 AU away from the central binary, or about the distance from the sun to Jupiter, and is likely made up of asteroids and comets. The other belt sits at 1.5 to 2 AU, comparable to the area where Mars and the asteroid belt sit, and consists of fine dust grains.
Description
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Release Credit:
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NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle (SSC)
Release_Credit
NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle (SSC)
Release Credit
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Related links:
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Planets with Four Parents? Spitzer Finds Evidence for Strange Stellar Family [ http://www.spitzer.…]
Related_links
Planets with Four Parents? Spitzer Finds Evidence for Strange Stellar Family [ http://www.spitzer.…] Related links
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facet_what:
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Spitzer Space Telescope
facet_what
Spitzer Space Telescope
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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COMETS
facet_what
COMETS
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Pluto
facet_what
Pluto
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Spectrometer
facet_what
Spectrometer
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Infrared Spectrometer
facet_what
Infrared Spectrometer
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Mars
facet_what
Mars
facet_what
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facet_where:
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Jupiter
facet_where
Jupiter
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Pluto
facet_where
Pluto
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Mars
facet_where
Mars
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Stennis Space Center (SSC)
facet_where
Stennis Space Center (SSC)
facet_where
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Image #:
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sig07-013
Image_#
sig07-013
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-sig07-013
UID
SPD-SPITZ-sig07-013
UID
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