Scientists think they have detected a collision in the debris disk surrounding the star Fomalhaut
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Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have detected a bright object in the debris disk that surrounds the nearby star Fomalhaut that wasn’t there previously, suggesting it is a glowing cloud of material left over from the collision of two asteroids.
You can read the published paper here [pdf]. Fomalhaut is a young star about 25 light years away, and has one of the best-mapped debris disks known.
The image to the right, reduced to post here, shows this new object, labeled CS2 and detected in 2023. CS1 is a similar detection from 2012 that was initially thought to be an exoplanet. When CS1 faded over time that theory was dismissed, replaced instead with the hypothesis that it was a cloud produced by an asteroid collision.
The recent appearance of CS2 strengthens this hypothesis, which will be further confirmed by future observations that show CS2 fading in the same manner. It also provides scientists a chance to measure the rate of such collisions within Fomalhaut’s debris disk, which scientists believe is essentially a baby solar system in formation. While very uncertain due to the short time scale, this data will help them begin to figure out the rate in which planets will form in such a disk.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Click for original.
Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have detected a bright object in the debris disk that surrounds the nearby star Fomalhaut that wasn’t there previously, suggesting it is a glowing cloud of material left over from the collision of two asteroids.
You can read the published paper here [pdf]. Fomalhaut is a young star about 25 light years away, and has one of the best-mapped debris disks known.
The image to the right, reduced to post here, shows this new object, labeled CS2 and detected in 2023. CS1 is a similar detection from 2012 that was initially thought to be an exoplanet. When CS1 faded over time that theory was dismissed, replaced instead with the hypothesis that it was a cloud produced by an asteroid collision.
The recent appearance of CS2 strengthens this hypothesis, which will be further confirmed by future observations that show CS2 fading in the same manner. It also provides scientists a chance to measure the rate of such collisions within Fomalhaut’s debris disk, which scientists believe is essentially a baby solar system in formation. While very uncertain due to the short time scale, this data will help them begin to figure out the rate in which planets will form in such a disk.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
No wonder the fire vampires left