Circumstellar Disk Around Beta Pictoris
This Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 image shows the full extent of the disk, which spans 140 billion miles (1500 astronomical units) edge-to-edge. An unusual flaring at the top of the right side of the disk (the Southwest side of the disk) shows that dust has been pulled above the dense plane of the disk beyond what is observed in the left side. A gravitational perturbation by an unseen substellar- mass companion farther from the star than planets would be, or a tug from a bypassing star might cause this flaring. The image was taken on June 22, 1995.
Credit:About the Image
About the Object
Name: | Beta Pictoris, IRAS 05460-5104 |
Type: | Milky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Planetary System |
Distance: | 70 light years |
Category: | Exoplanets Miscellaneous Stars |
Colours & filters
Band | Telescope |
---|---|
Optical |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |