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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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Baby Picture of our Solar System
Title
Baby Picture of our Solar System
Title
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Description:
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A rare, infrared view of a developing star and its flaring jets taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows us what our own solar system might have looked like billions of years ago. In visible light, this star and its surrounding regions are completely hidden in darkness.
Stars form out of spinning clouds, or envelopes, of gas and dust. As the envelopes flatten and collapse, jets of gas stream outward and a swirling disk of planet-forming material takes shape around the forming star. Eventually, the envelope and jets disappear, leaving a newborn star with a suite of planets. This process takes millions of years.
The Spitzer image shows a developing sun-like star, called L1157, that is only thousands of years old (for comparison, our solar system is around 4.5 billion years old). Why is the young system only visible in infrared light? The answer has to do with the fact that stars are born in the darkest and dustiest corners of space, where little visible light can escape. But the heat, or infrared light, of an object can be detected through the dust.
In Spitzer's infrared view of L1157, the star itself is hidden but its envelope is visible in silhouette as a thick black bar. While Spitzer can peer through this region's dust, it cannot penetrate the envelope itself. Hence, the envelope appears black. The thickest part of the envelope can be seen as the black line crossing the giant jets. This L1157 portrait provides the first clear look at stellar envelope that has begun to flatten.
The color white shows the hottest parts of the jets, with temperatures around 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit). Most of the material in the jets, seen in orange, is roughly zero degrees on the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales.
The reddish haze all around the picture is dust. The white dots are other stars, mostly in the background.
L1157 is located 800 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus.
This image was taken by Spitzer's infrared array camera. Infrared light of 8 microns is colored red; 4.5-micron infrared light is green; and 3.6-micron infrared light is blue.
Description
A rare, infrared view of a developing star and its flaring jets taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows us what our own solar system might have looked like billions of years ago. In visible light, this star and its surrounding regions are completely hidden in darkness.
Stars form out of spinning clouds, or envelopes, of gas and dust. As the envelopes flatten and collapse, jets of gas stream outward and a swirling disk of planet-forming material takes shape around the forming star. Eventually, the envelope and jets disappear, leaving a newborn star with a suite of planets. This process takes millions of years.
The Spitzer image shows a developing sun-like star, called L1157, that is only thousands of years old (for comparison, our solar system is around 4.5 billion years old). Why is the young system only visible in infrared light? The answer has to do with the fact that stars are born in the darkest and dustiest corners of space, where little visible light can escape. But the heat, or infrared light, of an object can be detected through the dust.
In Spitzer's infrared view of L1157, the star itself is hidden but its envelope is visible in silhouette as a thick black bar. While Spitzer can peer through this region's dust, it cannot penetrate the envelope itself. Hence, the envelope appears black. The thickest part of the envelope can be seen as the black line crossing the giant jets. This L1157 portrait provides the first clear look at stellar envelope that has begun to flatten.
The color white shows the hottest parts of the jets, with temperatures around 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit). Most of the material in the jets, seen in orange, is roughly zero degrees on the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales.
The reddish haze all around the picture is dust. The white dots are other stars, mostly in the background.
L1157 is located 800 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus.
This image was taken by Spitzer's infrared array camera. Infrared light of 8 microns is colored red; 4.5-micron infrared light is green; and 3.6-micron infrared light is blue.
Description
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Release Date:
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2007/11/29
Release_Date
2007/11/29
Release Date
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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/UIU C
Release_Credit
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UIU C
Release Credit
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Image Credit:
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NASA/JPL-Caltech/Les lie Looney (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Image_Credit
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Les lie Looney (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Image Credit
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Object name:
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L1157
Object_name
L1157
Object name
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Object type:
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Young Protostar (sun-like) with a protostellar jet and flattened envelope
Object_type
Young Protostar (sun-like) with a protostellar jet and flattened envelope
Object type
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Distance:
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250 pc
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Constellation:
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Cepheus
Constellation
Cepheus
Constellation
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Wavelength:
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3.6 micron (blue), 4.5 micron (green), and 8 micron (red)
Wavelength
3.6 micron (blue), 4.5 micron (green), and 8 micron (red)
Wavelength
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Image scale:
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5.9 x 7.2 arcmin
Image_scale
5.9 x 7.2 arcmin
Image scale
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Observers:
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Leslie Looney (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
John Tobin (University of Michigan)
Woojin Kwon (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Observers
Leslie Looney (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
John Tobin (University of Michigan)
Woojin Kwon (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Observers
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Instrument:
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IRAC
Instrument
IRAC
Instrument
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Exposure Date:
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2006 August 13
Exposure_Date
2006 August 13
Exposure Date
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Exposure Time:
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900 seconds
Exposure_Time
900 seconds
Exposure Time
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Orientation:
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North is 5.3 deg CW from up
Orientation
North is 5.3 deg CW from up
Orientation
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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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Visible Light
facet_what
Visible Light
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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Cepheus
facet_what
Cepheus
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
facet_what
Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
facet_what
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facet_where:
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Michigan
facet_where
Michigan
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Illinois
facet_where
Illinois
facet_where
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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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Image #:
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ssc2007-19b
Image_#
ssc2007-19b
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-ssc2007-19 b
UID
SPD-SPITZ-ssc2007-19 b
UID
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