Signs of Blasted Rock

Spitzer_ssc2009-16b_1024

spitzer_ssc2009-16b August 10th, 2009

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/C. Lisse (Johns Hopkins Univ.)

This spectrum, or plot of infrared data, from NASA's Spitzer Space telescope reveals the presence of vaporized and melted rock, along with rubble, around a young, hot star. The star, called HD 172555, is about twice the mass of the sun and about 100 light-years away. The data indicate that two bodies at least as big as our moon slammed into each other in a high-speed collision around the star. Impacts of this sort are normal part of the growth process of rocky planets like Earth.

Infrared light, or heat radiation, comes from materials around a star that are warmed by starlight. These materials re-radiate the light at characteristic wavelengths unique to the chemical composition of the material, allowing astronomers to figure out what kind of stuff is in orbit around a star, even from many light-years away.

In the case of the this spectrum, there are strong, wide peaks at 4 and 8 microns due to silicon monoxide (SiO) gas, formed when rock is heated so much it evaporates. The much larger and sharper peak centered at 9.3 microns is characteristic of amorphous glassy silica (a material similar to quartz or window glass), which is formed when rock is melted and then refrozen. When the rock is refrozen quickly it forms a substance called tektite; when is cools over minutes to hours, it becomes obsidian. The long, slow rise and plateau from 14 to 35 microns is from thick, pebble-size or larger cold rocks -- essentially rubble.

The total brightness of the spectrum indicates that the colliding bodies must have both been at least as big as our moon. The shape of the rubble feature tells us that the large pieces of rock are at about 200 Kelvin (about minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit), and about 5.8 astronomical units from the star (one astronomical unit is the distance between Earth and the sun).

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/2716-ssc2009-16b-Signs-of-Blasted-Rock

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: Public Domain

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Image Details

Image Type
Chart
Object Name
HD 172555
Subject - Milky Way
Star > Circumstellar Material > Disk > Debris

Distance

Universescale1
100 light years

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Spitzer (IRS) Infrared 5.0 µm
Spitzer (IRS) Infrared 35.0 µm
Spectrum plotted from 5 to 35 microns
Spectrum_ir1
Spitzer_ssc2009-16b_1280
×
ID
ssc2009-16b
Subject Category
B.3.7.2.3.  
Subject Name
HD 172555
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/C. Lisse (Johns Hopkins Univ.)
Release Date
2009-08-10
Lightyears
100
Redshift
100
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/2716-ssc2009-16b-Signs-of-Blasted-Rock
Type
Chart
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Spitzer, Spitzer
Instrument
IRS, IRS
Color Assignment
Band
Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
5000, 35000
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
ssc2009-16b.tif
Metadata Date
2011-09-01
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
100 light years

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