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Hubble GO/12228 Program Debris Disk Sample
This is a set of images from a NASA Hubble Space Telescope survey of the architecture of debris systems around young stars. The Hubble Space Telescope's sharp view uncovers an unexpected diversity and complexity in the structures. As the accompanying scale shows, the disk-like structures are vast, many times larger than the planetary distribution in our solar system. Some disks are tilted edge-on to our view, others nearly face-on. Asymmetries and warping in the disks might be caused by the host star's passage though interstellar space. Alternatively, the disks may be affected by the action of unseen planets. The stars surveyed may be as young as 10 million years old and as mature as more than 1 billion years old. The visible-light survey was done with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS). The STIS coronagraph blocks out the light from the host star so that the very faint reflected light from the dust structures can be seen. Some of the images have been artificially colored to enhance detail.
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.Hubble data for this release were obtained from the following HST proposal 12228 (PI: G. Schneider). The science team includes: G. Schneider (University of Arizona), C. Stark (NASA/GSFC), J. Debes (STScI), C. Grady (Eureka Scientific), D. Hines (STScI), M. Kuchner (NASA/GSFC), M. Perrin (STScI), M. Silverstone (Eureka Scientific), and A. Weinberger (Carnegie Institution of Washington), J. Wisniewski (University of Oklahoma, Norman), P. Hinz (University of Arizona), J. Carson (College of Charleston), T. Henning (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg), A. Moro-Martin (STScI), M. Tamura (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan), H. Jang-Condell (University of Wyoming, Laramie), B. Woodgate (NASA/GSFC), M. Goto (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg), and G. Serabyn (JPL).
- Release DateNovember 6, 2014
- Science ReleaseHubble Surveys Debris-Strewn Exoplanetary Construction Yards
- Credit
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Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
