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About the Image

Date
2014-03-06
ID
sig14-005
Type
Artwork
Credit
NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)

About the Object

Type
Star > Circumstellar Material > Disk > Protoplanetary

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Loops of Gas and Dust Rise from Planetary Disks

Magnetic loops carry gas and dust above disks of planet-forming material circling stars, as shown in this artist's conception. These loops give off extra heat, which NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope detects as infrared light. The colors in this illustration show what an alien observer with eyes sensitive to both visible light and infrared wavelengths might see.