Fomalhaut Dusty Debris Disk (MIRI Image)

Fomalhaut Dusty Debris Disk (MIRI Image)

This image of the dusty debris disk surrounding the young star Fomalhaut is from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). It reveals three nested belts extending out to 14 billion miles (23 billion kilometers) from the star. The inner belts – which had never been seen before – were revealed by Webb for the first time.

The Hubble Space Telescope and Herschel Space Observatory, as well as the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), have previously taken sharp images of the outermost belt. However, none of them found any structure interior to it.

These belts most likely are carved by the gravitational forces produced by unseen planets.

Credits

Image

NASA, ESA, CSA

Image Processing

András Gáspár (University of Arizona), Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

Science

András Gáspár (University of Arizona)

About The Object
Object Name Fomalhaut
Object Description Dusty debris disk
R.A. Position 22:57:39.05
Dec. Position -29:37:20.05
Constellation Piscis Austrinus
Distance 25 light-years (8 parsecs)
About The Data
Data Description The JWST observations include those from program (C. Beichman)
Instrument MIRI
Exposure Dates 21 Oct 2022
Filters F2550W
About The Image
Color Info The image is a single exposure acquired by the MIRI instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope. The color results from assigning an warm color map to a monochromatic (grayscale) image.  Orange color map: F2250W
Compass Image An orange oval extends from the 7 o’clock to 1 o’clock positions. It features a prominent outer ring, a darker gap, an intermediate ring, a narrower dark gap, and a bright inner disk. At the center is a ragged black spot where the detector is saturated.
About The Object
Object Name A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
Object Description The type of astronomical object.
R.A. Position Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
Dec. Position Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
Constellation One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
Distance The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
Dimensions The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
About The Data
Data Description
  • Proposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
  • Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
Instrument The science instrument used to produce the data.
Exposure Dates The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
Filters The camera filters that were used in the science observations.
About The Image
Image Credit The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content.
Publication Date The date and time the release content became public.
Color Info A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.
Orientation The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere.

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