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Debris Disk Around Star Beta Pictoris (Hubble)

A wide, irregular horizontal blue line, a debris disk seen edge-on, appears at the center and extends almost to the edges. At the center is a black dot with irregular edges, showing where the light from the central star was blocked by a coronagraph.

A debris disk, which includes comets, asteroids, rocks of various sizes, and plenty of dust, orbits the star Beta Pictoris, which is blocked at the center of this 2012 image by a coronagraph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. This is the visible-light view of the system. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will view Beta Pictoris in infrared light, both using its coronagraphs and capturing data known as spectra to allow researchers to learn significantly more about the gas and dust in the debris disk, which includes lots of smaller bodies like exocomets.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    05:47:17.08
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -51:03:59.43
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Pictor
  • 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.
    63 light-years

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.

    The image was created from Hubble data from the following proposals: 7125 PI: S. Heap (Eureka Scientific and NASA/GSFC) and 12551 PI: D. Apai (University of Arizona). The science team includes: D. Apai and G. Schneider (University of Arizona), C. Grady (Eureka Scientific and NASA/GSFC), M. Wyatt (University of Cambridge), A.-M. Lagrange (CNRS, Grenoble, France), M. Kuchner and C. Stark (NASA/GSFC), and S. Lubow (STScI).

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    STIS
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    6 March 2012
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Beta Pictoris
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Star with Circumstellar Disk
  • Release Date
    July 21, 2021
  • Science Release
    NASA’s Webb to Explore a Neighboring, Dusty Planetary System
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA, Daniel Apai (University of Arizona), Glenn Schneider (University of Arizona)

Downloads

  • Full Res (For Print), 1184 × 242
    tif (157.27 KB)
  • Full Res (For Display), 1184 × 242
    png (115.5 KB)
  • Compass Image, Full Res (For Print), 2000 × 855
    tif (809.68 KB)
  • Compass Image, Full Res (For Display), 2000 × 855
    png (712.56 KB)
Compass and Scale
Compass and ScaleAn astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made.

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Details

Last Updated
Aug 28, 2025
Contact
Media

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

Image Credit

NASA, ESA, Daniel Apai (University of Arizona), Glenn Schneider (University of Arizona)

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