These four images are from a computer simulation of a star flying by and disrupting a circumstellar disk of dust around the star Beta Pictoris. Frame (a) shows the encounter setup, where a small M-class star swings within 700 astronomical units (1 AU is the distance between Earth and the Sun) of Beta Pictoris, an A-class star. The circumstellar disk, seen as a black donut in this overhead view, has a 500 AU radius. In (b) the gravitational tug of the intruder star pulls the dust disk into two tidal tails stretching far beyond the disk's initial radius. Like spaghetti wrapped around a fork, the tidal tails are tangled together in (c). This leads to the formation of concentric ringlets of dust (d) on one side of the star. The entire sequence takes 100,000 years. This simulation explains observed asymmetries, knots, and other unique features of the Beta Pictoris disk.
Credits
J. Larwood (Queen Mary and Westfield College, London, UK)| About The Object | |
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| Object Name | Beta Pictoris |
| About The Object | |
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| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The 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. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
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| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
