2025年9月8日
IRAS 04302: Butterfly Disk Planet Formation
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Webb; Processing: M. Villenave et al.
Explanation: This butterfly can hatch planets. The nebula fanning out from the star IRAS 04302+2247 may look like the wings of a butterfly, while the vertical brown stripe down the center may look like the butterfly’s body — but together they indicate an active planet-forming system. The featured picture was captured recently in infrared light by the Webb Space Telescope. Pictured, the vertical disk is thick with the gas and dust from which planets form. The disk shades visible and (most) infrared light from the central star, allowing a good view of the surrounding dust that reflects out light. In the next few million years, the dust disk will likely fragment into rings through the gravity of newly hatched planets. And a billion years from now, the remaining gas and dust will likely dissipate, leaving mainly the planets — like in our Solar System.
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Tomorrow’s picture: up from Earth
IRAS 04302: 蝴蝶盘的行星形成
影像提供: NASA, ESA, CSA, Webb; 影像处理: M. Villenave et al.
说明: 这只蝴蝶可以孵化行星。从恒星IRAS 04302+2247散开的星云看起来像是一只蝴蝶的翅膀，而中央垂直的棕色条纹看起来像是蝴蝶的身体-但它们一起表明了一个活跃的行星形成系统。这张主题影像是韦伯太空望远镜最近在红外光波段所拍摄。图中，垂直的盘面充满了行星形成所需的气体和尘埃。盘面遮挡了来自中心恒星的可见光和大部分红外光，使得周围反射光的尘埃得以清晰可见。在接下来的数百万年中，尘埃盘可能会在新生行星的重力作用下碎裂成环状。十亿年后，剩余的气体和尘埃可能会消散，主要留下行星-就像在我们的太阳系中一样。
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