Warped Disc around Beta Pictoris
Depicts: Beta Pictoris
Copyright: Chris Burrows, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) the European Space Agency (ESA), J. Krist (STScI), the WFPC2 IDT team,and NASA
Top Image
This is a visible light image of the disk, which appears spindle-like because it is tilted nearly edge-on to our view.
The disk is made up of microscopic dust grains of ices and silicate particles, and shines by reflected light from the star.
Bottom Image
False-color is applied through image processing to accentuate details in the disk structure.
Hubble reveals that the pink-white inner edge of the disk is slightly tilted from the plane of the outer disk (red-yellow-green) as identified by a dotted line.
A simple explanation is that a large planet is pulling on the disk. It is not possible to see the planet directly because it is close to the star, and perhaps a billion-times fainter.
Last Update: 1 September 2019
