Building Planets Through Collisions

Spitzer_ssc2014-06a_1024

spitzer_ssc2014-06a August 28th, 2014

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)

Planets, including those like our own Earth, form from epic collisions between asteroids and even bigger bodies, called proto-planets. Sometimes the colliding bodies are ground to dust, and sometimes they stick together to ultimately form larger, mature planets.

This artist's conception shows one such smash-up, the evidence for which was collected by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Spitzer's infrared vision detected a huge eruption around the star NGC 2547-ID8 between August 2012 and 2013. Scientists think the dust was kicked up by a massive collision between two large asteroids. They say the smashup took place in the star's "terrestrial zone," the region around stars where rocky planets like Earth take shape.

NGC 2547-ID8 is a sun-like star located about 1,200 light-years from Earth in the constellation Vela. It is about 35 million years old, the same age our young sun was when its rocky planets were finally assembled via massive collisions -- including the giant impact on proto-Earth that led to the formation of the moon. The recent impact witnessed by Spitzer may be a sign of similar terrestrial planet building. Near-real-time studies like these help astronomers understand how the chaotic process works.

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/5931-ssc2014-06a-Building-Planets-Through-Collisions

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy

View Options

Image Details

Image Type
Artwork
Object Name
NGC 2547-ID8
Subject - Milky Way
Star > Circumstellar Material > Disk > Debris
Spitzer_ssc2014-06a_1280
×
ID
ssc2014-06a
Subject Category
B.3.7.2.3  
Subject Name
NGC 2547-ID8
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)
Release Date
2014-08-28
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/5931-ssc2014-06a-Building-Planets-Through-Collisions
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
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
ssc2014-06a.tif
Metadata Date
2014-08-28
Metadata Version
1.2
×

 

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×

There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

Providers | Sign In