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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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Two Suns Raise Family of Planetary Bodies
Title
Two Suns Raise Family of Planetary Bodies
Title
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Description:
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This artist's animation depicts a faraway solar system like our own -- except for one big difference. Planets and asteroids circle around not one, but two suns. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope found evidence that such solar systems might be common in the universe.
The movie begins by showing two snug, sun-like stars. It then pans out to show an Earth-like planet and a surrounding disk of asteroids and comets.
Spitzer did not see any planets directly, but it detected dust that is kicked up from disks like this one. The disks were spotted circling all the way around several double, or binary, stars, some of which were closer together than Earth is to our sun. In fact, Spitzer found more disks in orbit around close-knit binary stars than single stars. This could mean that planets prefer two parent stars to one, but more research is needed to figure out exactly what's going on.
Description
This artist's animation depicts a faraway solar system like our own -- except for one big difference. Planets and asteroids circle around not one, but two suns. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope found evidence that such solar systems might be common in the universe.
The movie begins by showing two snug, sun-like stars. It then pans out to show an Earth-like planet and a surrounding disk of asteroids and comets.
Spitzer did not see any planets directly, but it detected dust that is kicked up from disks like this one. The disks were spotted circling all the way around several double, or binary, stars, some of which were closer together than Earth is to our sun. In fact, Spitzer found more disks in orbit around close-knit binary stars than single stars. This could mean that planets prefer two parent stars to one, but more research is needed to figure out exactly what's going on.
Description
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Press Release:
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Press_Release
Press Release
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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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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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Earth
facet_what
Earth
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_where:
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
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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ssc2007-05v1
Image_#
ssc2007-05v1
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-ssc2007-05 v1
UID
SPD-SPITZ-ssc2007-05 v1
UID
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