Hubble image archive
TW Hydrae Protoplanetary Disk
This graphic shows a gap in a protoplanetary disk of dust and gas whirling around the nearby red dwarf star TW Hydrae.The gap's presence is best explained as due to the effects of a growing, unseen planet that is gravitationally sweeping up material and carving out a lane in the...
- Date
- Jan 1, 2013
- Mission
- Hubble Space Telescope
- Archive ID
- hubblesite-images-2013-20-3181-image
This graphic shows a gap in a protoplanetary disk of dust and gas whirling around the nearby red dwarf star TW Hydrae.
The gap's presence is best explained as due to the effects of a growing, unseen planet that is gravitationally sweeping up material and carving out a lane in the disk, like a snow plow.
In the NASA Hubble Space Telescope image at left, a gap can be seen about 7.5 billion miles away from the star in the center of the disk. If the putative planet orbited in our solar system, it would be roughly twice Pluto's distance from our Sun. The image was taken in near-infrared light by the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS).
Astronomers used a masking device on NICMOS to block out the star's bright light so that the disk's structure could be seen. The Hubble observations reveal that the gap, which is 1.9 billion miles wide, is not completely cleared out. The graphic at right shows the gap relative to the star. TW Hydrae resides 176 light-years away in the constellation Hydra (the Sea Serpent).
The Hubble observations were taken on June 17, 2005.
Credits
NASA, ESA, J. Debes (STScI), H. Jang-Condell (University of Wyoming), A. Weinberger (Carnegie Institution of Washington), A. Roberge (Goddard Space Flight Center), G. Schneider (University of Arizona/Steward Observatory), and A. Feild (STScI/AURA)Image Details
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | TW Hydrae |
| Object Description | T-Tauri Star with Disk |
| R.A. Position | 11h 1m 52.98s |
| Dec. Position | -34° 42' 24.77" |
| Constellation | Hydra |
| Distance | 176 light-years (54 parsecs) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The image was created from Hubble data from proposal : A. Weinberger (Carnegie Institution of Washington), G. Schneider (U. Arizona/Steward Observatory), M. Silverstone (U. of Alabama), C. Dumas (ESO), A. Roberge (GSFC), and J. Debes (STScI). |
| Instrument | HST>NICMOS/NIC2 |
| Exposure Dates | June 17, 2005 |
| Filters | F171M, F180M, F204M, and F222M |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | This image was originally black and white and measured brightness, multiplied by the distance to the stellar position squared. These brightness values were translated into a range of reddish hues. Such color "maps" can be useful in helping to distinguish subtly varying brightness in an image. The central dark spot in the release data is due to the NICMOS coronagraph, not due to a central clearing in the disk. F171M + F180M + F222M |
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Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.
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