Circumstellar Disk Around Beta Pictoris
Depicts: Beta Pictoris, IRAS 05460-5104
Copyright: Sally Heap (GSFC/NASA)
Show in archive: true
An unprecedented detailed close-up view of
the inner region of the disk taken with the Space Telescope
Imaging Spectrograph shows a warp in the disk. Though
this warp was first seen by Hubble in 1995, the new images
go closer to the star than ever before to about 1.4 billion
miles (15 astronomical units) -- a radius smaller than that of
Uranus' orbit. These new details support the presence of
one or more planets orbiting the star. The image was
taken in September 1997.
Last Update: 1 September 2019