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Shadow on TW Hydrae Disk Visualization
This simulation shows a shadow sweeping around a gas-and-dust disk encircling the young star TW Hydrae. The simulated view is based on an analysis of data taken between 1998 and 2016 by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. This video also shows what the moving shadow might look like in the future as it continues its journey around the disk. The shadow completes a revolution every 16 years. Astronomers think that an unseen planet in the disk is gravitationally pulling on material near the star and warping the inner part of the disk. The twisted, misaligned inner disk is casting its shadow across the surface of the outer disk. TW Hydrae resides 192 light-years away and is roughly 8 million years old.
- Release DateJanuary 7, 2017
- Science ReleaseHubble Captures ‘Shadow Play’ Caused by Possible Planet
- Credit
Related Images & Videos
Shadow on TW Hydrae's Disk
These images, taken a year apart by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, reveal a shadow moving counterclockwise around a gas-and-dust disk encircling the young star TW Hydrae. The two images at the top, taken by the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, show an uneven brightness...
The Making of a Shadow in TW Hydrae's Disk
This diagram reveals the proposed structure of a gas-and-dust disk surrounding the nearby, young star TW Hydrae. The illustration shows an inner disk that is tilted due to the gravitational influence of an unseen companion, which is orbiting just outside the disk. The tilted...
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Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
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Media
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
