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APOD: 2025 September 8 B IRAS 04302: Butterfly Disk Planet Formation
Explanation:
This butterfly can hatch planets.
The nebula fanning out from the star
IRAS 04302+2247
may look like the wings of a butterfly,
while the vertical brown stripe down the center
may look like the butterfly's body -- but
together they indicate an active
planet-forming system.
The
featured picture was captured recently in
infrared light by the
Webb Space Telescope.
Pictured, the vertical disk is thick with the gas and
dust
from which planets form.
The disk shades
visible and (most) infrared light from the central star,
allowing a good view of the surrounding dust that
reflects out light.
In the next few million years, the
dust disk will likely
fragment into rings
through the gravity of newly hatched planets.
And a billion years from now,
the remaining gas and dust will likely dissipate,
leaving mainly the planets -- like in
our Solar System.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: extrasolar planet
Publications with words: extrasolar planet
See also:
- APOD: 2024 July 8 B Exoplanet Zoo: Other Stars
- Temperatures on Exoplanet WASP 43b
- Epsilon Tauri: Star with Planet
- APOD: 2023 October 17 B PDS 70: Disk, Planets, and Moons
- APOD: 2023 September 20 B Methane Discovered on Distant Exoplanet
- APOD: 2023 June 6 B Star Eats Planet
- APOD: 2023 February 1 B The Seventh World of Trappist 1