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ssc2020-11b 04.29.20 Sizes of Black Holes in Galaxy OJ 287 Relative to the Solar SystemTwo supermassive black holes are locked in an orbital dance at the core of the distant galaxy OJ 287. This diagram sh... view image |
ssc2020-11a 04.28.20 Black Hole Disk Flare in Galaxy OJ 287This image shows two massive black holes in the OJ 287 galaxy. The smaller black hole orbits the larger one, which is... view image |
ssc2020-09a 04.09.20 Windy Brown DwarfFor the first time, scientists have directly measured wind speed on a brown dwarf, pictured here in an illustration. ... view image |
ssc2018-04a 02.05.18 Illustration of TRAPPIST-1 Planets as of Feb. 2018This illustration shows the seven Earth-size planets of TRAPPIST-1. The image does not show the planets' orbits to sc... view image |
ssc2018-04b1 02.05.18 TRAPPIST-1 Planet Lineup - Feb. 2018This artist's concept shows what the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system may look like, based on available data about the pla... view image |
ssc2018-04b2 02.05.18 TRAPPIST-1 Planet Lineup - Feb. 2018 (unannotated)This artist's concept shows what the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system may look like, based on available data about the pla... view image |
ssc2018-04e 02.05.18 Comparing TRAPPIST-1 to the Solar SystemThis graph presents known properties of the seven TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets (labeled b thorugh h), showing how they stack... view image |
ssc2018-04d 02.05.18 TRAPPIST-1 Compared to Jovian Moons and Inner Solar System - Feb. 2018All seven planets discovered in orbit around the red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 could easily fit inside the orbit of Mercu... view image |
ssc2017-16a 11.01.17 Polluted White DwarfThis artist's concept shows an exoplanet and debris disk orbiting a polluted white dwarf. view image |
ssc2017-11a 10.04.17 Dusty Ring Around Boyajians StarThis illustration depicts a hypothetical uneven ring of dust orbitingKIC 8462852, also known as Boyajians Star or Tab... view image |
ssc2017-01e 02.22.17 500 Hours of Spitzer Observations of TRAPPIST-1This data plot shows infrared observations by NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope of a system of seven planets orbiting TRA... view image |
ssc2017-01a 02.22.17 TRAPPIST-1 Planet LineupThis artist's conception shows what the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system may look like, based on available data about thei... view image |
sig16-20a 11.10.16 Brown Dwarf SystemThis illustration depicts a newly discovered brown dwarf, an object that weighs in somewhere between our solar system... view image |
sig16-011b 06.14.16 Dimming of FU Orionis (Fainter Phase Artist's Concept)The brightness of outbursting star FU Orionis has been slowly fading since its initial flare-up in 1936. Researchers ... view image |
sig16-011a 06.14.16 Dimming of FU Orionis (Brighter Phase Artist's Concept)The brightness of outbursting star FU Orionis has been slowly fading since its initial flare-up in 1936. Researchers ... view image |
sig16-011 06.14.16 Dimming of FU Orionis (Artist's Concept)The brightness of outbursting star FU Orionis has been slowly fading since its initial flare-up in 1936. Researchers ... view image |
sig15-009 06.25.15 Hypothetical 'Rejuvenated' PlanetsThis artist's concept shows a hypothetical "rejuvenated" planet -- a gas giant that has reclaimed its youthful infrar... view image |
ssc2014-06b 08.28.14 Witnessing a Planetary WreckageAstronomers were surprised to see these data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope in January 2013, showing a huge erup... view image |
ssc2014-06a 08.28.14 Building Planets Through CollisionsPlanets, including those like our own Earth, form from epic collisions between asteroids and even bigger bodies, call... view image |
ssc2014-03b 04.25.14 Cold and Close Celestial OrbThis artist's conception shows the object named WISE J085510.83-071442.5, the coldest known brown dwarf. view image |
ssc2014-03c 04.25.14 Welcome to the Sun's NeighborhoodThis diagram illustrates the locations of the star systems closest to the sun. The year when the distance to each sys... view image |
sig14-005 03.06.14 Loops of Gas and Dust Rise from Planetary DisksMagnetic loops carry gas and dust above disks of planet-forming material circling stars, as shown in this artist's co... view image |
sig14-001 01.07.14 This Just In: Storms Expected on Brown DwarfsThis artist's concept shows what the weather might look like on cool star-like bodies known as brown dwarfs. view image |
sig13-009 09.05.13 Brown Dwarf BackyardigansThe locations of brown dwarfs discovered by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, and mapped by NASA's... view image |
sig13-008 09.05.13 Free-floating Failed StarThis artist's conception portrays a free-floating brown dwarf, or failed star. view image |
sig13-006 07.31.13 Dusty Hula Hoop Rings 'Blinking' Stellar DuoIn this artist's impression, a disk of dusty material leftover from star formation girds two young stars like a hula ... view image |
ssc2013-02a 01.08.13 Rocky Ring of Debris Around VegaThis artist's concept illustrates an asteroid belt around the bright star Vega. view image |
ssc2013-01c 01.08.13 Forecast for Exotic WeatherThis artist's conception illustrates the brown dwarf named 2MASSJ22282889-431026. view image |
ssc2012-13a 10.03.12 Cepheids as Cosmology ToolsThis graph illustrates the Cepheid period-luminosity relationship, which scientists use to calculate the size, age an... view image |
ssc2011-08a 10.19.11 It's Raining CometsThis artist's conception illustrates a storm of comets around a star near our own, called Eta Corvi. view image |
ssc2011-07a 06.30.11 Galaxies Near and FarThis split view shows how a normal spiral galaxy around our local universe (left) might have looked back in the dista... view image |
ssc2011-06b 05.26.11 Finding Forsterite Around a Developing StarUsing NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have, for the first time, found signatures of silicate crystals aro... view image |
ssc2011-06c 05.26.11 Cosmic Fountain of Crystal RainThis graphic illustrates a stellar fountain of crystal rain, beginning with a Spitzer picture of the star in question... view image |
sig10-022 10.27.10 Buckyballs in SpaceNASAs Spitzer Space Telescope has detected buckyballs - intriguing, miniature-soccer-ball-shaped molecules - in inter... view image |
ssc2010-07b 08.23.10 Circle of Planetary AshesThis artist's concept illustrates a tight pair of stars and a surrounding disk of dust -- most likely the shattered r... view image |
ssc2010-07a 08.23.10 Spectral Signatures of Planetary DoomThis plot of data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope tells astronomers that a dusty planetary smashup probably occur... view image |
ssc2010-07c 08.23.10 Before the SmashupThis artist's concept illustrates an imminent planetary collision around a pair of double stars. NASA's Spitzer Space... view image |
ssc2010-06b 07.22.10 Space BallsNASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has at last found buckyballs in space, as illustrated by this artist's conception show... view image |
sig10-012 07.14.10 A Disk Around a Massive Baby StarAstronomers have obtained the first clear look at a dusty disk closely encircling a massive baby star, thought to lo... view image |
sig10-008 06.24.10 Coolest Orbs on the BlockThis artist's conception shows simulated data predicting the hundreds of failed stars, or brown dwarfs, that NASA's W... view image |
ssc2010-03a 03.17.10 How to Spot a Primitive Black HoleThese two data plots from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope show a primitive supermassive black hole (top) compared to a... view image |
ssc2010-03b 03.17.10 Prehistoric Black HoleThis artist's conception illustrates one of the most primitive supermassive black holes known (central black dot) at ... view image |
ssc2010-01b 01.05.10 Mystery of the Fading StarAstronomers have found a likely solution to a centuries-old riddle of the night sky. Every 27 years, a bright star ca... view image |
ssc2010-01a 01.05.10 Epsilon Aurigae Puzzle Pieces Snap Into PlaceThis graph of data from multiple telescopes shows the distribution of light from a pair of stars known as Epsilon Aur... view image |
ssc2009-21b 11.23.09 Dusty Beginnings of a StarThis artist's rendering gives us a glimpse into a cosmic nursery as a star is born from the dark, swirling dust and g... view image |
ssc2009-18a 09.23.09 Lump of Planetary StuffThis artist's conception shows a lump of material in a swirling, planet-forming disk. view image |
ssc2009-16a 08.10.09 Planetary Demolition DerbyThis artist's animation shows a celestial body about the size of our moon slamming at great speed into a body the siz... view image |
ssc2009-16b 08.10.09 Signs of Blasted RockThis spectrum, or plot of infrared data, from NASA's Spitzer Space telescope reveals the presence of vaporized and me... view image |
ssc2009-13b 06.10.09 Telltale Signs of Stellar YouthThese data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveal a newborn star at the center of our Milky Way. Our galaxy's cor... view image |
ssc2009-11b 05.13.09 Silicate Crystal Formation in the Disk of an Erupting StarThis artist's concept illustrates how silicate crystals like those found in comets can be created by an outburst from... view image |
ssc2009-11a 05.13.09 Seeing Crystals Form Around a Young StarAstronomers have had a rare opportunity to witness the creation of silicate crystals around a young star, as seen in ... view image |
sig09-002 04.20.09 Emission from the White Dwarf System GD 16This chart shows the brightness and wavelength of the radiation coming from white dwarf GD 16 and its associated disk... view image |
ssc2009-09a 04.07.09 Cool Stars May Have Different Prebiotic Chemical MixNASA's Spitzer Space Telescope detected a prebiotic, or potentially life-forming, molecule called hydrogen cyanide (H... view image |
ssc2009-09b 04.07.09 Chemical Soups Around Cool StarsThis artist's conception shows a young, hypothetical planet around a cool star. A soupy mix of potentially life-formi... view image |
ssc2009-01b 01.05.09 Asteroid 'Bites the Dust' Around Dead StarNASA's Spitzer Space Telescope set its infrared eyes upon the dusty remains of shredded asteroids around several dead... view image |
ssc2009-01a 01.05.09 Silicates in Alien AsteroidsThis plot of data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescopes shows that asteroid dust around a dead "white dwarf" star cont... view image |
ssc2008-22a 12.10.08 Not-So-Bright BulbsThis artist's concept shows the dimmest star-like bodies currently knowntwin brown dwarfs referred to as 2M 0939. view image |
ssc2008-20a 11.11.08 Quartz-like Crystals Found in Planetary DisksThis artists concept of a young star and its planet forming disk shows tiny quartz like crystals detected by the Spit... view image |
ssc2008-19b 10.27.08 Young Solar System in the MakingThis artist's diagram compares the Epsilon Eridani system to our own solar system. The two systems are structured sim... view image |
ssc2008-19a 10.27.08 Epsilon Eridani: Double the RubbleThis artist's conception shows the closest known planetary system to our own, called Epsilon Eridani. Observations fr... view image |
ssc2008-06a 03.13.08 A Young Stellar Disk around AA TauriThis plot of infrared data shows the signatures of water vapor and simple organic molecules in the disk of gas and du... view image |
ssc2008-06b 03.13.08 Water Vapor in the Young Planetary Disk of AS 205NThis plot of infrared data shows the strong signature of water vapor in the disk of gas and dust surrounding a young ... view image |
sig08-002 01.09.08 Accretion Disk Around Binary Star System WZ SgeAn artist's concept of the accretion disk around the binary star system WZ Sge. Using data from Kitt Peak National Ob... view image |
sig07-023 11.28.07 Planets Forming Around a Sun-like StarThis is an artist's rendition of the one-million-year-old star system called UX Tau A, located approximately 450 ligh... view image |
sig07-019 10.03.07 Birth of an Earth-like PlanetThis artist's conception shows a binary-star, or two-star, system, called HD 113766, where astronomers suspect a rock... view image |
ssc2007-14a 08.29.07 Spitzer Sees Water Loud and Clear in a Young Solar SystemThis plot of infrared data, called a spectrum, shows the strong signature of water vapor deep within the core of an e... view image |
ssc2007-14c 08.29.07 Steamy Solar SystemThis diagram illustrates the earliest journeys of water in a young, forming star system. view image |
ssc2007-14d 08.29.07 Planet-Forming Disk Around a Baby StarThis artist's concept shows a young star surrounded by a dusty protoplanetary disk. This disk contains the raw materi... view image |
sig07-013 07.24.07 Evidence for a Strange Stellar FamilyThis artist's concept depicts a quadruple-star system called HD 98800. The system is approximately 10 million years o... view image |
sig07-012 07.13.07 Sun and Earth in ScaleThis illustration shows the relative sizes of the Sun and the Earth by placing them impossibly close together. view image |
sig06-017 06.06.07 Highway of StarsThis artist's concept shows a newly discovered stream of ancient stars passing just over the head of the constellatio... view image |
ssc2007-08c 04.18.07 Evaporating Protoplanetary DiskYoung, cooler stars like our sun can form in the danger zones around scorching hot stars, called O-stars. The closer ... view image |
ssc2007-05c 03.29.07 Alien SunsetOur solitary sunsets here on Earth might not be all that common in the grand scheme of things. New observations from ... view image |
ssc2007-05a 03.27.07 Where Planets Take up ResidenceThis diagram illustrates that mature planetary systems like our own might be more common around twin, or binary, star... view image |
ssc2007-05b 03.27.07 Solar System with Snug SunsThis artist's concept depicts a faraway solar system like our own except for one big difference. Planets and asteroi... view image |
sig07-003 01.09.07 Luminous Blue Variable HD168625: Destined To Be a Supernova?A Luminous Blue Variable star, HD168625, is surrounded by a bipolar nebula that is similar to the one around SN1987A.... view image |
sig07-001 01.09.07 Forecasting Weather on Distant WorldsAn artist's concept shows a gas-giant planet orbiting very close to its parent star, creating searingly hot condition... view image |
ssc2006-19b 10.26.06 Cassiopeia A: Once an Onion, Always an OnionThis artist's concept illustrates a massive star before and after it blew up in a cataclysmic supernova explosion. Th... view image |
sig06-022 09.18.06 Brown Dwarf CompanionThis is an artist's concept of the star HD 3651 as it is orbited by a close-in Saturn-mass planetary companion and th... view image |
ssc2006-15a 07.24.06 Stars Can't Spin Out of ControlThis artist's concept shows a dusty planet-forming disk in orbit around a whirling young star. NASA's Spitzer Space T... view image |
sig06-014 05.22.06 Stellar JetsThis artist concept illustrates jets of material shooting out from the neutron star in the interacting binary system ... view image |
ssc2006-10c 04.05.06 Extreme PlanetsThis artist's concept depicts a planetary system discovered by Aleksander Wolszczan in 1992 around a pulsar. view image |
ssc2006-10b 04.05.06 Stellar Rubble May Be Planetary Building BlocksThis artist's concept depicts a type of dead star called a pulsar and the surrounding disk of rubble discovered by NA... view image |
ssc2006-10a 04.05.06 Circle of AshesThis plot tells astronomers that a pulsar, the remnant of a stellar explosion, is surrounded by a disk of its own ash... view image |
ssc2006-05a 02.08.06 Little Dust Grains in Giant Stellar DisksThis graph of data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the composition of a monstrous disk of what may be plane... view image |
ssc2006-05b 02.08.06 Supersized DiskThis illustration compares the size of a gargantuan star and its surrounding dusty disk (top) to that of our solar sy... view image |
ssc2006-04b 01.11.06 Comet 'Bites the Dust' Around Dead StarThis artist's concept illustrates a comet being torn to shreds around a white dwarf called G29-38. NASA's Spitzer Spa... view image |
ssc2006-04a 01.11.06 Evidence for Comets Found in Dead StarThis graph of data, or spectrum, from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope indicates that a dead star, or white dwarf, call... view image |
sig06-001 01.10.06 Circumbinary DiskThis artist concept shows a debris disk in a cataclysmic variable system which consists of a highly magnetic white dw... view image |
ssc2006-03b 01.09.06 Artist's Impression of Massive Star ClusterThis is an illustration of one of the most massive star clusters within our Milky Way Galaxy, containing 14 rare red ... view image |
ssc2005-26a 12.20.05 Life's Starting Materials Found in Dusty DiskThis graph, or spectrum, from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope tells astronomers that some of the most basic ingredient... view image |
ssc2005-26b 12.20.05 Portrait of Our Dusty PastThis artist's concept illustrates a solar system that is a much younger version of our own. Dusty disks, like the one... view image |
sig05-027 12.14.05 Belt of DustA narrow asteroid belt filled with rocks and dusty debris, orbits a star similar to our own Sun when it was approxima... view image |
sig05-026 12.14.05 The Invisible DiskAstronomers can detect the presence of disks of dust orbiting distant stars by measuring how the combined light from ... view image |
sig05-022 11.29.05 Itsy Bitsy Solar SystemThis artist's conception compares a hypothetical solar system centered around a tiny "sun" (top) to a known solar sys... view image |
ssc2005-22b 11.02.05 Out of the Darkness Comes StarsThis artist's concept shows what the very early universe might have looked like, just after its first stars began bur... view image |
ssc2005-21a 10.20.05 Planet Clumps and Crystals Around Brown DwarfsThis graph of data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the spectra (middle four lines) of dusty disks around fo... view image |
ssc2005-21b 10.20.05 Sowing the Seeds of Planets?This artist's concept shows microscopic crystals in the dusty disk surrounding a brown dwarf, or "failed star." The c... view image |
sig05-012 09.12.05 Planets May Leave Tracks in DustAstronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have gathered the most detailed data yet on a gap in a protoplanetar... view image |
sig05-009 07.18.05 Disk Around Red Dwarf Stars in the Stephenson 34 SystemAstronomers were surprised to discover a 25-million-year-old protoplanetary disk around a pair of red dwarf stars 350... view image |
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