File:Ssc2005-21a.jpg
Original file (3,000 × 2,400 pixels, file size: 1.27 MB, MIME type: image/jpeg)
Captions
Summary
[edit]This graph of data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the spectra (middle four lines) of dusty disks around four brown dwarfs, or "failed stars," located 520 light-years away in the Chamaeleon constellation. The data suggest that the dust in these disks is crystallizing and clumping together in what may be the birth of planets.
Spectra are created by breaking light apart into its basic components, like a prism turning sunlight into a rainbow. Their bumps represent the "fingerprints" or signatures of different minerals.
Here, the light green vertical bands highlight the spectral fingerprints of crystals made up primarily of a green silicate mineral found on Earth called olivine. As the graph illustrates, three of the four brown dwarfs possess these microscopic gem-like particles. For comparison, the spectra of dust between stars (top) and the comet Hale-Bopp (bottom) are shown. The comet has the tiny crystals, whereas the interstellar dust does not.
The broadening of these spectral features or bumps -- seen here as you move down the graph -- indicates silicate grains of increasing size.
Another analysis of this same data shows that some of the brown dwarfs' dusty disks flare in their outer regions, while others are flattened. This flattening is correlated with increasing grain size, and probably occurs because the heavier dust grains are settling downward.
Together, these observations -- of crystals, growing dust grains and flattened disks -- provide strong evidence that the dust around these brown dwarfs is evolving into what might become planets. Prior to the findings, these first steps of planet formation were seen only in disks around stars, the brighter and bigger cousins to brown dwarfs.
File info
[edit]DescriptionSsc2005-21a.jpg | Planet Clumps and Crystals around Brown Dwarfs |
Date | |
Source | http://gallery.spitzer.caltech.edu/Imagegallery/image.php?image_name=ssc2005-21a |
Author | NASA/JPL-Caltech/D. Apai (University of Arizona) |
Permission (Reusing this file) |
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/mediaimages/copyright.shtml |
Individual images
[edit]see http://gallery.spitzer.caltech.edu/Imagegallery/image.php?image_name=ssc2005-21a High quality tif files also avaliable.
Licensing
[edit]Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse |
This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.) | ||
Warnings:
|
File history
Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.
Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
current | 19:14, 10 July 2007 | 3,000 × 2,400 (1.27 MB) | Anzibanonzi (talk | contribs) | ==Summary== This graph of data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the spectra (middle four lines) of dusty disks around four brown dwarfs, or "failed stars," located 520 light-years away in the Chamaeleon constellation. The data suggest that the du |
You cannot overwrite this file.
File usage on Commons
There are no pages that use this file.
Metadata
This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file. The timestamp is only as accurate as the clock in the camera, and it may be completely wrong.
Width | 3,000 px |
---|---|
Height | 2,400 px |
Compression scheme | LZW |
Pixel composition | RGB |
Orientation | Normal |
Number of components | 3 |
Horizontal resolution | 300 dpi |
Vertical resolution | 300 dpi |
Data arrangement | chunky format |
Software used | Adobe Photoshop CS2 Macintosh |
File change date and time | 10:42, 20 October 2005 |
Color space | Uncalibrated |