Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
Haunting portrait: Webb reveals dust and structure in Pillars of Creation
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
Hubble Space Telescope Home NASA’s Hubble, Webb… Hubble Space Telescope Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts News Hubble News Hubble News Archive Social Media Media Resources Multimedia Multimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts E-books Lithographs Fact Sheets Glossary Posters Hubble on the NASA App More Online Activities 6 Min Read NASA’s Hubble, Webb Probe Surprisingly Smooth Disk Around Vega
Teams of astronomers used the combined power of NASA’s Hubble and James Webb space telescopes to revisit the legendary Vega disk. Credits:
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, S. Wolff (University of Arizona), K. Su (University of Arizona), A. Gáspár (University of Arizona) In the 1997 movie “Contact,” adapted from Carl Sagan’s 1985 novel, the lead character scientist Ellie Arroway (played by actor Jodi Foster) takes a space-alien-built wormhole ride to the star Vega. She emerges inside a snowstorm of debris encircling the star — but no obvious planets are visible.
It looks like the filmmakers got it right.
A team of astronomers at the University of Arizona, Tucson used NASA’s Hubble and James Webb space telescopes for an unprecedented in-depth look at the nearly 100-billion-mile-diameter debris disk encircling Vega. “Between the Hubble and Webb telescopes, you get this very clear view of Vega. It’s a mysterious system because it’s unlike other circumstellar disks we’ve looked at,” said Andras Gáspár of the University of Arizona, a member of the research team. “The Vega disk is smooth, ridiculously smooth.”
The big surprise to the research team is that there is no obvious evidence for one or more large planets plowing through the face-on disk like snow tractors. “It’s making us rethink the range and variety among exoplanet systems,” said Kate Su of the University of Arizona, lead author of the paper presenting the Webb findings.
[left] A Hubble Space Telescope false-color view of a 100-billion-mile-wide disk of dust around the summer star Vega. Hubble detects reflected light from dust that is the size of smoke particles largely in a halo on the periphery of the disk. The disk is very smooth, with no evidence of embedded large planets. The black spot at the center blocks out the bright glow of the hot young star.
[right] The James Webb Space Telescope resolves the glow of warm dust in a disk halo, at 23 billion miles out. The outer disk (analogous to the solar system’s Kuiper Belt) extends from 7 billion miles to 15 billion miles. The inner disk extends from the inner edge of the outer disk down to close proximity to the star. There is a notable dip in surface brightness of the inner disk from approximately 3.7 to 7.2 billion miles. The black spot at the center is due to lack of data from saturation. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, S. Wolff (University of Arizona), K. Su (University of Arizona), A. Gáspár (University of Arizona)
Download this image
Webb sees the infrared glow from a disk of particles the size of sand swirling around the sizzling blue-white star that is 40 times brighter than our Sun. Hubble captures an outer halo of this disk, with particles no bigger than the consistency of smoke that are reflecting starlight.
The distribution of dust in the Vega debris disk is layered because the pressure of starlight pushes out the smaller grains faster than larger grains. “Different types of physics will locate different-sized particles at different locations,” said Schuyler Wolff of the University of Arizona team, lead author of the paper presenting the Hubble findings. “The fact that we’re seeing dust particle sizes sorted out can help us understand the underlying dynamics in circumstellar disks.”
The Vega disk does have a subtle gap, around 60 AU (astronomical units) from the star (twice the distance of Neptune from the Sun), but otherwise is very smooth all the way in until it is lost in the glare of the star. This shows that there are no planets down at least to Neptune-mass circulating in large orbits, as in our solar system, say the researchers.
Hubble acquired this image of the circumstellar disk around the star Vega using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS). NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, S. Wolff (University of Arizona), K. Su (University of Arizona), A. Gáspár (University of Arizona)
Download this image
“We’re seeing in detail how much variety there is among circumstellar disks, and how that variety is tied into the underlying planetary systems. We’re finding a lot out about the planetary systems — even when we can’t see what might be hidden planets,” added Su. “There’s still a lot of unknowns in the planet-formation process, and I think these new observations of Vega are going to help constrain models of planet formation.”
Disk Diversity
Newly forming stars accrete material from a disk of dust and gas that is the flattened remnant of the cloud from which they are forming. In the mid-1990s Hubble found disks around many newly forming stars. The disks are likely sites of planet formation, migration, and sometimes destruction. Fully matured stars like Vega have dusty disks enriched by ongoing “bumper car” collisions among orbiting asteroids and debris from evaporating comets. These are primordial bodies that can survive up to the present 450-million-year age of Vega (our Sun is approximately ten times older than Vega). Dust within our solar system (seen as the Zodiacal light) is also replenished by minor bodies ejecting dust at a rate of about 10 tons per second. This dust is shoved around by planets. This provides a strategy for detecting planets around other stars without seeing them directly – just by witnessing the effects they have on the dust.
“Vega continues to be unusual,” said Wolff. “The architecture of the Vega system is markedly different from our own solar system where giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn are keeping the dust from spreading the way it does with Vega.”
Webb acquired this image of the circumstellar disk around the star Vega using the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, S. Wolff (University of Arizona), K. Su (University of Arizona), A. Gáspár (University of Arizona)
Download this image
For comparison, there is a nearby star, Fomalhaut, which is about the same distance, age and temperature as Vega. But Fomalhaut’s circumstellar architecture is greatly different from Vega’s. Fomalhaut has three nested debris belts.
Planets are suggested as shepherding bodies around Fomalhaut that gravitationally constrict the dust into rings, though no planets have been positively identified yet. “Given the physical similarity between the stars of Vega and Fomalhaut, why does Fomalhaut seem to have been able to form planets and Vega didn’t?” said team member George Rieke of the University of Arizona, a member of the research team. “What’s the difference? Did the circumstellar environment, or the star itself, create that difference? What’s puzzling is that the same physics is at work in both,” added Wolff.
First Clue to Possible Planetary Construction Yards
Located in the summer constellation Lyra, Vega is one of the brightest stars in the northern sky. Vega is legendary because it offered the first evidence for material orbiting a star — presumably the stuff for making planets — as potential abodes of life. This was first hypothesized by Immanuel Kant in 1775. But it took over 200 years before the first observational evidence was collected in 1984. A puzzling excess of infrared light from warm dust was detected by NASA’s IRAS (Infrared Astronomy Satellite). It was interpreted as a shell or disk of dust extending twice the orbital radius of Pluto from the star.
In 2005, NASA’s infrared Spitzer Space Telescope mapped out a ring of dust around Vega. This was further confirmed by observations using submillimeter telescopes including Caltech’s Submillimeter Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and also the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, and ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) Herschel Space Telescope, but none of these telescopes could see much detail. “The Hubble and Webb observations together provide so much more detail that they are telling us something completely new about the Vega system that nobody knew before,” said Rieke.
Two papers (Wolff et al. and Su et. al.) from the Arizona team will be published in The Astrophysical Journal.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for over three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, Colorado, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.
Explore More:
Finding Planetary Construction Zones
The science paper by Schuyler Wolff et al., PDF (3.24 MB)
The science paper by Kate Su et al., PDF (2.10 MB)
Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Facebook logo @NASAWebb @NASAWebb Instagram logo @NASAWebb Media Contacts:
Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov), Laura Betz (laura.e.betz@nasa.gov)
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
Ray Villard, Christine Pulliam
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD
Share
Details
Last Updated Nov 01, 2024 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
Astrophysics Goddard Space Flight Center Hubble Space Telescope James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Stars Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble and Webb
Hubble Space Telescope
Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.
James Webb Space Telescope
Space Telescope
Hubble vs. Webb
Hubble Focus: Strange New Worlds
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope team has released a new edition in the Hubble Focus e-book series, called “Hubble Focus: Strange…
View the full article
-
By European Space Agency
Stare deeply at these galaxies. They appear as if blood is pumping through the top of a flesh-free face. The long, ghastly ‘stare’ of their searing eye-like cores shines out into the supreme cosmic darkness.
View the full article
-
By NASA
5 Min Read ‘Blood-Soaked’ Eyes: NASA’s Webb, Hubble Examine Galaxy Pair
This observation combines mid-infrared light from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and ultraviolet and visible light from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The galaxies grazed one another millions of years ago. The smaller spiral on the left, cataloged as IC 2163, passed behind NGC 2207, the larger spiral galaxy at right. Credits:
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI Stare deeply at these galaxies. They appear as if blood is pumping through the top of a flesh-free face. The long, ghastly “stare” of their searing eye-like cores shines out into the supreme cosmic darkness.
It’s good fortune that looks can be deceiving.
These galaxies have only grazed one another to date, with the smaller spiral on the left, cataloged as IC 2163, ever so slowly “creeping” behind NGC 2207, the spiral galaxy at right, millions of years ago.
The pair’s macabre colors represent a combination of mid-infrared light from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope with visible and ultraviolet light from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
Image A: Galaxies IC 2163 and NGC 2207 (Webb and Hubble Image)
This observation combines mid-infrared light from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and ultraviolet and visible light from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The galaxies grazed one another millions of years ago. The smaller spiral on the left, cataloged as IC 2163, passed behind NGC 2207, the larger spiral galaxy at right. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI Look for potential evidence of their “light scrape” in the shock fronts, where material from the galaxies may have slammed together. These lines represented in brighter red, including the “eyelids,” may cause the appearance of the galaxies’ bulging, vein-like arms.
The galaxies’ first pass may have also distorted their delicately curved arms, pulling out tidal extensions in several places. The diffuse, tiny spiral arms between IC 2163’s core and its far left arm may be an example of this activity. Even more tendrils look like they’re hanging between the galaxies’ cores. Another extension “drifts” off the top of the larger galaxy, forming a thin, semi-transparent arm that practically runs off screen.
Image B: Galaxies IC 2163 and NGC 2207 (MIRI Image)
This mid-infrared image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope excels at showing where the cold dust, set off in white, glows throughout these two galaxies, IC 2163 and NGC 2207. The telescope also helps pinpoint where stars and star clusters are buried within the dust. These regions are bright pink. Some of the pink dots may be extremely distant active supermassive black holes known as quasars. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI Both galaxies have high star formation rates, like innumerable individual hearts fluttering all across their arms. Each year, the galaxies produce the equivalent of two dozen new stars that are the size of the Sun. Our Milky Way galaxy only forms the equivalent of two or three new Sun-like stars per year. Both galaxies have also hosted seven known supernovae in recent decades, a high number compared to an average of one every 50 years in the Milky Way. Each supernova may have cleared space in their arms, rearranging gas and dust that later cooled, and allowed many new stars to form.
To spot the star-forming “action sequences,” look for the bright blue areas captured by Hubble in ultraviolet light, and pink and white regions detailed mainly by Webb’s mid-infrared data. Larger areas of stars are known as super star clusters. Look for examples of these in the top-most spiral arm that wraps above the larger galaxy and points left. Other bright regions in the galaxies are mini starbursts — locations where many stars form in quick succession. Additionally, the top and bottom “eyelid” of IC 2163, the smaller galaxy on the left, is filled with newer star formation and burns brightly.
Image C: Galaxies IC 2163 and NGC 2207 (Hubble and Webb Images Side by Side)
Image Before/After What’s next for these spirals? Over many millions of years, the galaxies may swing by one another repeatedly. It’s possible that their cores and arms will meld, leaving behind completely reshaped arms, and an even brighter, cyclops-like “eye” at the core. Star formation will also slow down once their stores of gas and dust deplete, and the scene will calm.
Video A: Tour of Galaxies IC 2163 and NGC 2207
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for over three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, Colorado, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.
Downloads
Right click any image to save it or open a larger version in a new tab/window via the browser’s popup menu.
View/Download all image products at all resolutions for this article from the Space Telescope Science Institute.
Media Contacts
Laura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.gov, Claire Andreoli – claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Claire Blome – cblome@stsci.edu, Christine Pulliam – cpulliam@stsci.edu
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
Related Information
Other images: View of NGC 2207 in optical, x-ray, and infrared light
Video: What happens when galaxies collide?
Video: Galaxy Collisions: Simulations vs. Observations
Article: More about Galaxy Evolution
Video: Learn more about galactic collisions
More Webb News
More Webb Images
Webb Science Themes
Webb Mission Page
Hubble Mission Page
Related For Kids
What is a galaxy?
What is the Webb Telescope?
The Amazing Hubble Telescope
SpacePlace for Kids
En Español
¿Qué es una galaxia?
Ciencia de la NASA
NASA en español
Space Place para niños
Keep Exploring Related Topics
James Webb Space Telescope
Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the…
Hubble Space Telescope
Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.
Hubble vs. Webb
Galaxies
Share
Details
Last Updated Oct 30, 2024 Editor Marty McCoy Contact Laura Betz laura.e.betz@nasa.gov Related Terms
Astrophysics Galaxies Galaxies, Stars, & Black Holes Research Goddard Space Flight Center Hubble Space Telescope James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Science & Research Spiral Galaxies The Universe View the full article
-
By NASA
Mars: Perseverance (Mars 2020) Perseverance Home Mission Overview Rover Components Mars Rock Samples Where is Perseverance? Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Mission Updates Science Overview Objectives Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Perseverance Raw Images Images Videos Audio More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions The Solar System The Sun Mercury Venus Earth The Moon Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto & Dwarf Planets Asteroids, Comets & Meteors The Kuiper Belt The Oort Cloud 2 min read
A Spooky Soliday: Haunting Whispers from the Martian Landscape
NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image, which was selected by the public as the rover’s “Image of the Week,” of the martian landscape on the Jezero crater rim using its Left Mastcam-Z camera. The image was acquired on Oct. 22, 2024 (Sol 1306) at the local mean solar time of 13:45:41. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU The Perseverance rover lurks in the quiet, cold, desolate landscape of Jezero crater on Mars, a place masked in shadows and haunted by past mysteries. Built to endure the planet’s harsh conditions, Perseverance braves the thin atmosphere and extreme temperature swings. Its microphone captures the eerie whispers of martian winds, sending shivers down your spine, and records ghostly dust devils swirling across the barren terrain. Has the microphone caught the sound of a skeleton rattling its bones? We’ll leave that up to your imagination.
Recently, Perseverance navigated the sinister slopes of the Jezero crater rim, seeking out a series of ramshackle ridges to uncover the rim’s hidden geological secrets. The rover emerged from the shadows to descend into a field of light-toned rocks, illuminating the landscape reminiscent of bones and tombstones. Along the way, the rover encountered dark bedrock at Mist Park. Perseverance will then face another daunting climb back up the crater rim, venturing deeper into the great unknown.
Unlike vampires or other creatures of the night, Perseverance needs rest after long days of exploring the mystifying martian landscape. As night falls, the rover sleeps after watching the Sun sink below the horizon, casting ominous shadows across the landscape. The chilling winds howl through the night like a haunting lullaby for the fearless explorer. However, Perseverance sometimes wakes up from things that go bump in the night. While instruments mostly conduct their scientific measurements during the day, they are not afraid of the dark, often tasked with observing what lurks in the shadows and gazing at the martian night sky. Perseverance occasionally looks up to image the auroras and to get a glimpse of Phobos and Deimos, Mars’ two Moons.
Mars is like a hotel you can check in and out of, but you can never leave. It has become a graveyard of long-dead landers and rovers, but Perseverance is nowhere near ready to leave the land of the living. In fact, the ghosts of past rovers and landers guide Perseverance on its journey. As we continue to uncover the secrets of Mars, we are reminded of its past and the mysteries that still linger. Join us in pondering the mysteries of Mars as we explore its haunted history.
Written by Stephanie Connell, Ph.D. Student Collaborator at Purdue University
Downloads
Image Details
Mars Perseverance Sol 1306: Left Mastcam-Z Camera
Oct 30, 2024
PNG (3.83 MB)
Share
Details
Last Updated Oct 30, 2024 Related Terms
Blogs Explore More
3 min read Sols 4345-4347: Contact Science is Back on the Table
Article
2 days ago
4 min read Sols 4343-4344: Late Slide, Late Changes
Article
5 days ago
2 min read Red Rocks with Green Spots at ‘Serpentine Rapids’
Article
5 days ago
Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited…
All Mars Resources
Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,…
Rover Basics
Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…
Mars Exploration: Science Goals
The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…
View the full article
-
By NASA
2 min read
NASA Reveals Prototype Telescope for Gravitational Wave Observatory
NASA has revealed the first look at a full-scale prototype for six telescopes that will enable, in the next decade, the space-based detection of gravitational waves — ripples in space-time caused by merging black holes and other cosmic sources.
On May 20, the full-scale Engineering Development Unit Telescope for the LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission, still in its shipping frame, was moved within a clean room at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. NASA/Dennis Henry The LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission is led by ESA (European Space Agency) in partnership with NASA to detect gravitational waves by using lasers to measure precise distances — down to picometers, or trillionths of a meter — between a trio of spacecraft distributed in a vast configuration larger than the Sun. Each side of the triangular array will measure nearly 1.6 million miles, or 2.5 million kilometers.
“Twin telescopes aboard each spacecraft will both transmit and receive infrared laser beams to track their companions, and NASA is supplying all six of them to the LISA mission,” said Ryan DeRosa, a researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “The prototype, called the Engineering Development Unit Telescope, will guide us as we work toward building the flight hardware.”
The prototype LISA telescope undergoes post-delivery inspection in a darkened NASA Goddard clean room on May 20. The entire telescope is made from an amber-colored glass-ceramic that resists changes in shape over a wide temperature range, and the mirror’s surface is coated in gold. NASA/Dennis Henry The Engineering Development Unit Telescope, which was manufactured and assembled by L3Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York, arrived at Goddard in May. The primary mirror is coated in gold to better reflect the infrared lasers and to reduce heat loss from a surface exposed to cold space since the telescope will operate best when close to room temperature.
The prototype is made entirely from an amber-colored glass-ceramic called Zerodur, manufactured by Schott in Mainz, Germany. The material is widely used for telescope mirrors and other applications requiring high precision because its shape changes very little over a wide range of temperatures.
The LISA mission is slated to launch in the mid-2030s.
Download additional images from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio
By Francis Reddy
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Media Contact:
Claire Andreoli
301-286-1940
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Share
Details
Last Updated Oct 22, 2024 Related Terms
Astrophysics Black Holes Galaxies, Stars, & Black Holes Goddard Space Flight Center Gravitational Waves LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) The Universe Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.