Seeing Crystals Form Around a Young Star

Spitzer_ssc2009-11a_1024

spitzer_ssc2009-11a May 13th, 2009

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/P. brahm (Konkoly Obs., Hungarian Academy of Sciences)

Astronomers have had a rare opportunity to witness the creation of silicate crystals around a young star, as seen in this data plot from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

The two lines in this chart are from Spitzer's spectrograph, which collects light and sorts it according to color, or wavelength. They show the emission from dust grains in the protoplanetary disk surrounding a young star known as EX Lupi.

The blue line dates from an early observation made on 18 March, 2005. The hump is a characteristic spectral feature typical of dust particles found throughout interstellar space.

The green line is a later observation, made on 21 April, 2008, taken while the star was experiencing an outburst, or eruption. The green area under the curve highlights a new feature that matches the spectral signature of silicate crystals (pictured in the inset).

Astronomers believe these observations indicate that the crystals were newly-forged in the warm glow of the outburst. The star brightened and heated up as material fell onto its surface from its surrounding disk, a process by which young stars increase their mass.

When the surrounding disk warms from the star's outburst, the amorphous particles of silicate melt. As they cool off, they transform into forsterite, a type of silicate crystal often found in comets in our solar system.

The two observations have been matched in scaling to highlight the new forsterite feature, observed while the star was declining in brightness. At the time of the second observation, EX Lupi was still 30 times brighter in visible light than during its quiet periods.

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1050-ssc2009-11a-Seeing-Crystals-Form-Around-a-Young-Star

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: Public Domain

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Image Details

Image Type
Chart
Object Name
EX Lupi
Subject - Milky Way
Star > Circumstellar Material > Disk > Protoplanetary
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Young Stellar Object

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Spitzer (IRS) Infrared 7.5 µm
Spitzer (IRS) Infrared 12.5 µm
Spectrum spans wavelengths of 7.5 to 12.5 microns
Spectrum_ir1
Spitzer_ssc2009-11a_1280
×
ID
ssc2009-11a
Subject Category
B.3.7.2.1.   B.3.1.2.  
Subject Name
EX Lupi
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/P. brahm (Konkoly Obs., Hungarian Academy of Sciences)
Type
Chart
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Spitzer, Spitzer
Instrument
IRS, IRS
Color Assignment
Band
Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
7500, 12500
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
S
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
Public Domain
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
ssc2009-11a.tif
Metadata Date
2011-09-02
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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