Gas Giants Form Quickly

Spitzer_ssc2007-02a_1024

spitzer_ssc2007-02a January 8th, 2007

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle (SSC)

This is an artist's concept of a hypothetical 10-million-year-old star system. The bright blur at the center is a star much like our Sun. The other orb in the image is a gas-giant planet like Jupiter. Wisps of white throughout the image represent traces of gas.

Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have found evidence showing that gas-giant planets either form within the first 10 million years of a sun-like star's life, or not at all. The lifespan for sun-like stars is about 10 billion years.

The scientists came to this conclusion after searching for traces of gas around 15 different sun-like stars, most with ages ranging from 3 million to 30 million years. With the help of Spitzer's Infrared Spectrometer instrument, they were able to search for relatively warm gas in the inner regions of these star systems, an area comparable to the zone between Earth and Jupiter in our own solar system. They also used ground-based radio telescopes to search for cooler gas in the outer regions of these systems, an area comparable to the zone around Saturn and beyond.

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1744-ssc2007-02a-Gas-Giants-Form-Quickly

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: Public Domain

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Image Details

Image Type
Artwork
Subject - General
Planet > Type > Gas Giant
Planet > Satellite
Spitzer_ssc2007-02a_1280
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ID
ssc2007-02a
Subject Category
E.1.1.2   E.1.4  
Subject Name
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle (SSC)
Release Date
2007-01-08
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1744-ssc2007-02a-Gas-Giants-Form-Quickly
Type
Artwork
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Instrument
Color Assignment
Band
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Space Telescope
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Spitzer Space Telescope
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
Public Domain
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
ssc2007-02a.tif
Metadata Date
2011-09-06
Metadata Version
1.1
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