A cat\u2019s tail in Beta Pictoris<\/h3>\n
Beta Pictoris is an astonishing nearby star system. In 1984, it became the very first star discovered to be surrounded by a bright disk of dust and debris. New planets are forming in this debris disk, and so the discovery confirmed astronomers\u2019 theories on how planets form. And this beloved system continues to stun observers. On January 10, 2024, NASA said the enhanced power of the Webb space telescope has revealed an unusual and unexpected feature of the Beta Pictoris debris disk: a trail of dust some a 10 billion miles long (16 billion km long) extending from the star and looking for all the world like the flicking tail of a cat.<\/p>\n
The peer-reviewed Astronomical Journal<\/em> accepted a paper on the new discovery for publication in its February 2024 issue.<\/p>\n Isabel Rebollido of the Astrobiology Center in Spain and the study\u2019s lead author described why this enigmatic star system continues to enthrall astronomers:<\/p>\n Beta Pictoris is the debris disk that has it all: It has a really bright, close star that we can study very well, and a complex cirumstellar environment with a multicomponent disk, exocomets, and two imaged exoplanets.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Overall, the papers\u2019 authors estimate the cat\u2019s tail contains an amount of dust equivalent to a large main belt asteroid.<\/p>\n EarthSky lunar calendars are back in stock! And we\u2019re guaranteed to sell out, so get one while you can. Your support means the world to us and allows us to keep going. Purchase here.<\/p>\n The scientists who discovered the feline feature of Beta Pictoris think it may be evidence of a cataclysmic collision of objects in the star\u2019s highly active debris disk. Moreover, they think it happened relatively recently, within the last 100 years or so.<\/p>\n Marshall Perrin, a co-author of the study at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, describes how the dust trail may have formed:<\/p>\n Something happens \u2013 like a collision \u2013 and a lot of dust is produced. At first, the dust goes in the same orbital direction as its source, but then it also starts to spread out. The light from the star pushes the smallest, fluffiest dust particles away from the star faster, while the bigger grains do not move as much, creating a long tendril of dust.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The high speed of the particles in the tail led the researchers to believe it consists of lightweight organic refractory material. Organic refractory material is the dark, dusty stuff found on the surface of comets and asteroids orbiting the sun. Indeed, we recently got a good look at some of it when OSIRIS-REx brought a sample of asteroid Bennu back to Earth.<\/p>\n Eyes are the part of a cat one thinks of as glowing, but this cosmic cat\u2019s tail shines too, yet only in the infrared spectrum. Astronomers used Webb\u2019s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to make the discovery. The researchers were investigating the composition of Beta Pictoris\u2019s previously detected main and secondary debris disks.<\/p>\n Christopher Stark, a co-author of the study at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center, said the team was surprised by what they found:<\/p>\n We didn\u2019t expect Webb to reveal that there are two different types of material around Beta Pictoris, but MIRI clearly showed us that the material of the secondary disk and cat\u2019s tail is hotter than the main disk. The dust that forms that disk and tail must be very dark, so we don\u2019t easily see it at visible wavelengths. But in the mid-infrared, it\u2019s glowing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In addition, the recent investigation into Beta Pictoris also showed the star\u2019s secondary debris disk is elongated in the opposite direction from the cat\u2019s tail feature. Dust in the tail and the secondary disk share a temperature different from that in the star\u2019s main debris disk. Consequently, this insight led the researchers to speculate a single collision may be responsible for both features.<\/p>\n Beta Pictoris, they said, has a lot going on:<\/p>\n Our research suggests that Beta Pictoris may be even more active and chaotic than we had previously thought. Webb continues to surprise us, even when looking at the most well-studied objects. We have a completely new window into these planetary systems.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n If you live far enough south on Earth\u2019s globe, you can easily spot the star Beta Pictoris (though not its disk) with the unaided eye. From its distance of 63 light-years away, this star shines at magnitude 3.85, meaning it\u2019s within the range of vision to the eye alone, in a dark sky. It lies in the direction of our constellation Pictor, the painter\u2019s easel, which is visible in the sky now to those in the southern U.S. and similar latitudes. And it\u2019s easy to find! It lies to the northwest of Canopus, another beloved star, and the 2nd-brightest star in Earth\u2019s night sky.<\/p>\n And, while you gaze at its distant light, you can reflect on how Beta Pictoris has refined our understanding of star systems. The exoplanets astronomers have detected in the star\u2019s orbit (Beta Pic b and c) are among the only ones we\u2019ve imaged directly from Earth. We even have a movie of it circling its star. <\/p>\n Additionally, Beta Pictoris was also the first star to confirm other systems harbor comets. And we\u2019ve found at least 30 so far!<\/p>\n Bottom line: Astronomers using the Webb space telescope discovered a cat\u2019s tail of dust extending from the nearby star Beta Pictoris. <\/p>\n Source: JWST-TST High Contrast: Asymmetries, Dust Populations, and Hints of a Collision in the b Pictoris Disk with NIRCam and MIRI<\/p>\n Via NASA\u2019s Webb Space Telescope<\/p>\n Read more: <\/div>\n\n
Recent collision likely source of cat\u2019s tail<\/h3>\n
\n
![\"Black](\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2024\/02\/Beta-Pictoris-Cats-Tail-MIRI-Annotated-Image-800x450-2.png\")
The cat\u2019s tail is bright in infrared<\/h3>\n
\n
Beta Pictoris is an active, busy and chaotic system<\/h3>\n
\n
See Beta Pictoris for yourself tonight<\/h3>\n
![\"Chart](\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2024\/02\/canopus-beta-pictoris_Wikipedia.png\")
Exoplanet\u2019s day lasts only 8 hours
Wow! Amazing timelapse of Beta Pictoris b
Astronomers capture 1st direct image of young giant exoplanet<\/p>\n