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Collection:
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NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Collection
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Collection
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Title:
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Red Giant Plunging Through Space
Title
Red Giant Plunging Through Space
Title
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Original Caption Released with Image:
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Poster Version
This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (left panel) shows the "bow shock" of a dying star named R Hydrae, or R Hya, in the constellation Hydra.
Bow shocks are formed where the stellar wind from a star are pushed into a bow shape (illustration, right panel) as the star plunges through the gas and dust between stars. Our own Sun has a bow shock, but prior to this image one had never been observed around this particular class of red giant star.
R Hya moves through space at approximately 50 kilometers per second. As it does so, it discharges dust and gas into space. Because the star is relatively cool, that ejecta quickly assumes a solid state and collides with the interstellar medium. The resulting dusty nebula is invisible to the naked eye but can be detected using an infrared telescope. This bow shock is 16,295 astronomical units from the star to the apex and 6,188 astronomical units thick (an astronomical unit is the distance between the sun and Earth). The mass of the bow shock is about 400 times the mass of the Earth.
The false-color Spitzer image shows infrared emissions at 70 microns. Brighter colors represent greater intensities of infrared light at that wavelength. The location of the star itself is drawn onto the picture in the black "unobserved" region in the center.
Original_Caption_Rel eased_with_Image
Poster Version
This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (left panel) shows the "bow shock" of a dying star named R Hydrae, or R Hya, in the constellation Hydra.
Bow shocks are formed where the stellar wind from a star are pushed into a bow shape (illustration, right panel) as the star plunges through the gas and dust between stars. Our own Sun has a bow shock, but prior to this image one had never been observed around this particular class of red giant star.
R Hya moves through space at approximately 50 kilometers per second. As it does so, it discharges dust and gas into space. Because the star is relatively cool, that ejecta quickly assumes a solid state and collides with the interstellar medium. The resulting dusty nebula is invisible to the naked eye but can be detected using an infrared telescope. This bow shock is 16,295 astronomical units from the star to the apex and 6,188 astronomical units thick (an astronomical unit is the distance between the sun and Earth). The mass of the bow shock is about 400 times the mass of the Earth.
The false-color Spitzer image shows infrared emissions at 70 microns. Brighter colors represent greater intensities of infrared light at that wavelength. The location of the star itself is drawn onto the picture in the black "unobserved" region in the center.
Original Caption Released with Image
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Image Credit:
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NASA/CXC/STScI/JPL-C altech/UIUC/Univ. of Minn.
Image_Credit
NASA/CXC/STScI/JPL-C altech/UIUC/Univ. of Minn.
Image Credit
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Produced By:
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California Institute of Technology
Produced_By
California Institute of Technology
Produced By
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Mission:
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Spitzer Space Telescope (SST)
Mission
Spitzer Space Telescope (SST)
Mission
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Spacecraft:
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Spitzer Space Telescope (SST)
Spacecraft
Spitzer Space Telescope (SST)
Spacecraft
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Instrument:
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Multiband Imaging Photometer for SIRTF (MIPS)
Instrument
Multiband Imaging Photometer for SIRTF (MIPS)
Instrument
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Product Size:
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2861 samples x 1439 lines
Product_Size
2861 samples x 1439 lines
Product Size
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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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Earth
facet_what
Earth
facet_what
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facet_what:
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SST
facet_what
SST
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Apex
facet_what
Apex
facet_what
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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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MIPS
facet_what
MIPS
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Multiband Imaging Photometer for SIRTF
facet_what
Multiband Imaging Photometer for SIRTF
facet_what
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facet_what:
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SIRTF
facet_what
SIRTF
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Hydra
facet_what
Hydra
facet_what
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facet_where:
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California
facet_where
California
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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PIA09070
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UID:
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SPD-PHOTJ-PIA09070
UID
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA09070
UID
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orignial url:
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orignial_url
orignial url
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