![]() 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 |
![]() 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 |
![]() 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 |
![]() ssc2014-06b 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 |
![]() 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 |
![]() 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 |
![]() 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 |
![]() ssc2011-06b 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 |
![]() ssc2010-09a 10.27.10 Extragalactic Space BallsFor the first time, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected little spheres of carbon, called buckyballs, in a gal... 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 |
![]() sig10-011 07.14.10 A Massive Star and Its CradleThis star-forming region is dominated by the bright, young star IRAS 13481-6124 (upper left), which is about twenty t... view image |
![]() sig10-006 05.20.10 Blobs House Twin StarsNew evidence from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is showing that tight-knit twin stars might be triggered to form by ... 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 |
![]() ssc2010-01a 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 |
![]() 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 |
![]() 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 |
![]() sig09-008 11.04.09 A Picture of Unsettled Planetary YouthNASA's Spitzer Space Telescope captured this infrared image of a giant halo of very fine dust around the young star H... 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 |
![]() ssc2009-16b 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 |
![]() ssc2009-16a 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 |
![]() ssc2009-13b 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 |
![]() ssc2009-09b 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 |
![]() ssc2009-09a 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 |
![]() ssc2009-01b 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 |
![]() sig08-017 12.16.08 Devastated Stellar NeighborhoodThis image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the nasty effects of living near a group of massive stars: radia... 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 |