Archivo de imágenes de Hubble

Ilustración de la colisión de cuerpos protoplanetarios en el sistema estelar de Fomalhaut

This artist's illustration depicts the collision of two 125-mile-wide icy, dusty bodies orbiting the bright star Fomalhaut, located 25 light-years away. Astronomers believe that Hubble Space Telescope observations, spanning several years, provide observational evidence for the fi...

Fecha
Jan 1, 2020
Misión
Hubble Space Telescope
ID de archivo
hubblesite-images-2020-09-4626-image
Por

This artist's illustration depicts the collision of two 125-mile-wide icy, dusty bodies orbiting the bright star Fomalhaut, located 25 light-years away. Astronomers believe that Hubble Space Telescope observations, spanning several years, provide observational evidence for the first-ever detection of such a titanic collision in another star system. What was first thought to be a planet orbiting Fomalhaut eventually faded and disappeared from view in the Hubble snapshots. The interpretation is that the object wasn't a planet at all, but an expanding cloud of dust from a collision between two equally massive bodies. Ballooning to over 200 million miles across, the cloud is now so diffuse it has fallen below Hubble's detection limit. Smashups like this are estimated to happen around Fomalhaut once every 200,000 years. Therefore, Hubble was looking at the right place at the right time to capture this transient event.

Credits

ESA, NASA, and M. Kornmesser

Detalles de la imagen

About The Object
Object NameFomalhaut b
Object DescriptionArtist's Illustration of Collision of Protoplanetary Bodies
R.A. Position22:57:39.04
Dec. Position-29:37:20.04
ConstellationPiscis Austrinus
DistanceThe Fomalhaut star system is located 25 light-years away from Earth.

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Fuente

La imagen y el material de referencia se acreditan al archivo oficial de la misión enlazado a continuación.

Ver en NASA.gov

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