Vega Webb Compass Image

Vega Webb Compass Image

Caption

This is a James Webb Space Telescope view of a 100-billion-mile-wide disk of dust around the star Vega. The disk is remarkably smooth and there is no debatable evidence for planet formation taking place. Webb resolves the glow of warm dust in a disk halo, at 23 billion miles out. The outer disk (analogous to the solar system’s Kuiper Belt) extends from 7 billion miles to 15 billion miles. The inner disk extends from the inner edge of the outer disk down to close proximity to the star. There is a notable dip in surface brightness of the inner disk from approximately 3.7 to 7.2 billion miles. The black spot at the center is due to lack of data from saturation.

Credits

Image

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, K. Su (University of Arizona), A. Gáspár (University of Arizona)

Keywords

About The Object
Object Name Vega
Object Description Dusty debris disk
R.A. Position 18:36:56.34
Dec. Position +38:47:01.28
Constellation Lyra
Distance 25 light-years
About The Data
Data Description The Webb observations include those from program (C. Beichman)
Instrument MIRI
Exposure Dates August 2023
Filters F2550W
About The Image
Color Info The image is an exposure acquired by the MIRI nstrument on the James Webb Space Telescope. The color results from assigning an orange hue to a monochromatic (grayscale) image.
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
Color Info A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.
Compass and Scale Image An astronomical image with a scale that shows how large an object is on the sky, a compass that shows how the object is oriented on the sky, and the filters with which the image was made.

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