The Rocky World of Young Planetary Systems (Annotated)

Spitzer_ssc2004-17a_1024

spitzer_ssc2004-17a October 18th, 2004

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

This artist's concept illustrates how planetary systems arise out of massive collisions between rocky bodies. New findings from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope show that these catastrophes continue to occur around stars even after they have developed full-sized planets, when they are as old as one hundred million years. For reference, our own Sun, at 4.5 billion years old, is far past this late stage of planet formation.In this image, a young star is shown circled by full-sized planets, and rings of dust beyond. These rings, also called "debris discs" arise when embryonic planets smash into each other. One of these collisions is illustrated in the inset above.Spitzer was able to see the dust generated by these collisions with its powerful infrared vision.

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1310-ssc2004-17a-The-Rocky-World-of-Young-Planetary-Systems-Annotated-

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

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

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Image Details

Image Type
Artwork
Subject - General
Planet > Type > Terrestrial
Planet > Feature > Surface > Impact
Star > Circumstellar Material > Planetary System
Star > Circumstellar Material > Disk > Debris
Spitzer_ssc2004-17a_1280
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ID
ssc2004-17a
Subject Category
E.1.1.1.   E.1.2.1.4.   E.3.7.1.   E.3.7.2.3.  
Subject Name
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle (SSC)
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
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
ssc2004-17a.tif
Metadata Date
2012-10-11
Metadata Version
1.1
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