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AU Mic (NIRCam Compass Image)

This image shows two views of the dusty debris disk around the red dwarf star AU Mic. The top panel is the disk at 3.56 microns. The disk appears as a fuzzy, blue, horizontal line broken in the middle by a black region outlined by a white, dashed circle. In the center of that region is a white, graphical star, which represents AU Mic. The actual star is blocked out in this image by Webb’s NIRCam coronagraph. The bottom panel is the second view of the disk, at 4.44 microns. The disk appears as a fuzzy, red, horizontal line broken in the middle by a black region outlined by a white, dashed circle. As in the top panel, in the center of that region is a cartoonish star representing AU Mic. The actual star is blocked out by the NIRCam’s coronagraph.

These coronagraphic images of a disk around the star AU Microscopii, captured by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), show compass arrows, scale bar, and color key for reference.

The north and east compass arrows show the orientation of the image on the sky. Note that the relationship between north and east on the sky (as seen from below) is flipped relative to direction arrows on a map of the ground (as seen from above).

The scale bar is labeled in astronomical units, or A.U., which is the average distance between the Earth and the Sun. The field of view shown in this image is approximately 100 A.U. across.

This image shows invisible near-infrared and mid-infrared wavelengths of light that have been translated into visible-light colors. The color key shows which NIRCam filters were used when collecting the light. The color of each filter name is the visible light color used to represent the infrared light that passes through that filter.

Read the full image caption.

 

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    20:45:9.49
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -31:20:26.99
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Microscopium
  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    32 light-years (9.79 parsecs)

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data 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.

    This image was created with Webb data from proposal: 1184 (J. Schlieder).

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    NIRCam
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    03 Oct 2022
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F356W, F444W
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    AU Mic, AU Micrscopii
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Debris Disk Around Nearby Star
  • Release Date
    January 11, 2023
  • Science Release
    New Webb Image Reveals Dusty Disk Like Never Seen Before
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, CSA, Kellen Lawson (NASA-GSFC), Joshua Schlieder (NASA-GSFC); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

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This image shows two views of the dusty debris disk around the red dwarf star AU Mic. The top panel is the disk at 3.56 microns. The disk appears as a fuzzy, blue, horizontal line broken in the middle by a black region outlined by a white, dashed circle. In the center of that region is a white, graphical star, which represents AU Mic. The actual star is blocked out in this image by Webb’s NIRCam coronagraph. The bottom panel is the second view of the disk, at 4.44 microns. The disk appears as a fuzzy, red, horizontal line broken in the middle by a black region outlined by a white, dashed circle. As in the top panel, in the center of that region is a cartoonish star representing AU Mic. The actual star is blocked out by the NIRCam’s coronagraph.
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

The images are separate exposures acquired by the NIRCam instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope. The color results from assigning a cyan and red hue to monochromatic (grayscale) images.

Related Images & Videos

This image shows two views of the dusty debris disk around the red dwarf star AU Mic. The top panel is the disk at 3.56 microns. The disk appears as a fuzzy, blue, horizontal line broken in the middle by a black region outlined by a white, dashed circle. In the center of that region is a white, graphical star, which represents AU Mic. The actual star is blocked out in this image by Webb’s NIRCam coronagraph. The bottom panel is the second view of the disk, at 4.44 microns. The disk appears as a fuzzy, red, horizontal line broken in the middle by a black region outlined by a white, dashed circle. As in the top panel, in the center of that region is a cartoonish star representing AU Mic. The actual star is blocked out by the NIRCam’s coronagraph. Please reference the extended text description for more details.

AU Mic (NIRCam Image)

These two images are of the dusty debris disk around AU Mic, a red dwarf star located 32 light-years away in the southern constellation Microscopium. The team used Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) to study AU Mic. NIRCam’s coronagraph, which blocked the intense light of the...

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Details

Last Updated
Nov 18, 2025
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

Science Credit

NASA, ESA, CSA, Kellen Lawson (NASA-GSFC), Joshua Schlieder (NASA-GSFC)

Image Processing Credit

Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

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