Beta Pictoris Disk Hides Giant Elliptical Ring System
The planetary dust disk around the star Beta Pictoris is dynamically 'ringing like a bell, ' according to astronomers investigating NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope images. The 'clapper' is the gravitational wallop of a star that passed near Beta Pictoris some 100, 000 years ago.
Credit:NASA/ESA and Paul Kalas ( Space Telescope Science Institute)
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 Stars |
Colours & filters
| Band | Telescope |
|---|---|
| Optical |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |