Download Video
Video Information
Subscribe to Series
Stars Can't Spin Out of Control
This artist's animation demonstrates how a dusty planet-forming disk can slow down a whirling young star, essentially saving the star from spinning itself to death. Evidence for this phenomenon comes from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
The movie begins by showing a developing star (red ball). The star is basically a giant ball of gas that is collapsing onto itself. As it shrinks, it spins faster and faster, like a skater folding in his or her arms. The green lines represent magnetic fields.
As gravity continues to pull matter inward, the star spins so fast, it starts to flatten out. The same principle applies to the planet Saturn, whose spin has caused it to be slightly squashed or oblate.
A forming star can theoretically whip around fast enough to overcome gravity and flatten itself into a state where it can no longer become a full-fledged star. But stars don't spin out of control, possibly because swirling disks of dust slow them down. Such disks can be found orbiting young stars, and are filled with dust that might ultimately stick together to form planets.
The second half of the animation demonstrates how a disk is thought to keep its star's speed in check. A developing star is shown twirling inside its disk. As it turns, its magnetic fields pass through the disk and get bogged down like a spoon in molasses. This locks the star's rotation to the slower-turning disk, so the star, while continuing to shrink, does not spin faster.
Spitzer found evidence for star-slowing disks in a survey of nearly 500 forming stars in the Orion nebula. It observed that slowly spinning stars are five times more likely to host disks than rapidly spinning stars.
Related Media
 |
News Release Planet-Forming Disks Might Put the Brakes on Stars ssc2006-15 |
 |
Image Stars Can't Spin Out of Control ssc2006-15a |
 |
Video Stars Can't Spin Out of Control ssc2006-15v1 |
 |
PDF Planet-Forming Disks Might Put the Brakes on Stars ssc2006-15p |
Most Popular Videos
Spitzer Podcasts
Browse Videos in Science Animations
Page
1
of
2
03.30.16 Possible Lava World (Animation)This animation shows one possible scenario for the rocky exoplanet 55 Cancri e, nearly two times the size of Earth. N... |
12.10.15 Cool Star Marked by Long-Lived Storm AnimationThis animation shows a cool star, called W1906+40, marked by a raging storm near one of its poles. The storm is thoug... |
07.30.15 NASA's Spitzer Confirms Closest Rocky ExoplanetThis animated movie zooms into the location of a newfound planet dubbed HD 219134b -- the closest confirmed rocky pla... |
07.30.15 NASA's Spitzer Confirms Closest Rocky ExoplanetThis animated movie zooms into the location of a newfound planet dubbed HD 219134b -- the closest confirmed rocky pla... |
03.20.14 Panning Through the Milky WayThis video shows a continually looping view of the Spitzer Space Telescope's new infrared view of our Milky Way Galaxy. |
02.08.13 Strobe-like Flashes Discovered in a Suspected Binary ProtostarThis video, created from a sequence of images from the Hubble Space Telescope, shows a pulse of light emanating from ... |
07.18.12 Flying Out to GJ 436 and its PlanetsStarting from Earth, we quickly zoom out of the solar system into our sun's local neighborhood, populated by the clos... |
05.08.12 Super Earth Reveals Itself to SpitzerNASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has, for the first time, captured the light emanating from a distant super Earth, a pl... |
05.08.12 Super Earth Reveals Itself to Spitzer (Narrated)NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has, for the first time, captured the light emanating from a distant super Earth, a pl... |
10.19.10 Weird Warm Spot on ExoplanetThis animation illustrates an unexpected warm spot on the surface of a gaseous exoplanet. NASA's Spitzer Space Telesc... |
10.19.10 Weird Warm Spot on Exoplanet (Narrated)This animation illustrates an unexpected warm spot on the surface of a gaseous exoplanet. NASA's Spitzer Space Telesc... |
|
10.06.09 Saturn Family TourThis video showcases the Saturnian system, beginning with the planet itself and panning out to its newest addition --... |
|
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... |
06.04.09 Silicate Crystal Formation in the Disk of an Erupting StarThis artist's animation illustrates how silicate crystals like those found in comets can be created by an outburst fr... |
06.04.09 Tour of Planet with Extreme Temperature SwingsThis animation shows a computer simulation of the planet HD 80606b from an observer located at a point in space lying... |
07.15.08 Zooming in on Second-Brightest Star in Milky WayThis movie zooms in to reveal the "Peony nebula" star -- the new second-brightest star in the Milky Way, discovered i... |
05.05.08 Cauldron of LightIn this animation, a seething cauldron of light appears to bubble and ooze around the remains of a giant star that as... |
05.05.08 Dissecting a Light EchoThis animation illustrates how a light echo works, and how an optical illusion of material moving outward is created.... |
11.29.07 Pulling Back the Curtain of DustThis artist's animation begins by showing a dark and dusty corner of space where little visible light can escape. The... |
05.09.07 Blacker than BlackThis artist's animation illustrates the hottest planet yet observed in the universe. The scorching ball of gas, a "ho... |
05.09.07 Mapping Exotic WorldsThis animation shows the first-ever map of the surface of an exoplanet, or a planet beyond our solar system. The map,... |
05.09.07 How to Map a Very Faraway PlanetScientists using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope were able to create the first-ever map of the surface of a planet bey... |
04.18.07 Infrared RoseThis movie begins by showing an optical image of the Rosette nebula, a turbulent star-forming region located 5,000 li... |
04.18.07 Highway to the Danger Zone"The further on the edge, the hotter the intensity," sings Kenny Loggins in "Danger Zone," a song made famous by the ... |
03.29.07 Two Suns Raise Family of Planetary BodiesThis artist's animation depicts a faraway solar system like our own -- except for one big difference. Planets and ast... |
02.21.07 Hot, Dry, and Cloudy (Artist Concept)This artist's concept animation shows a cloudy Jupiter-like planet that orbits very close to its fiery hot star. NASA... |
12.18.06 Stars Spring Up Out of the DarknessThis artist's animation illustrates the universe's early years, from its explosive formation to its dark ages to its ... |
11.07.06 Hubble-Spitzer OrionThis video cycles between the Hubble view, the Spitzer view, and the combined Hubble-Spitzer view of the Orion Nebula. |
11.07.06 Making a Great Observatories CompositeThis video shows how a Hubble image and a Spitzer image of the Orion Nebula were combined to create a new, multi-wave... |
10.30.06 Who Ya Gonna Call?NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is a galactic ghost buster, spotting hidden massive stars and other monsters lurking i... |
10.26.06 Order Amidst Chaos of Star's ExplosionThis artist's animation shows the explosion of a massive star, the remains of which are named Cassiopeia A. NASA's Sp... |
10.12.06 Fire and Ice PlanetThis artist's animation shows a blistering world revolving around its nearby "sun." NASA's infrared Spitzer Space Tel... |
10.12.06 Fire and Ice Planet (without data plot)This artist's animation shows a blistering world revolving around its nearby "sun." NASA's infrared Spitzer Space Tel... |
08.14.06 Journey to OrionThis movie begins with a visible view of the famous Orion constellation. Superimposed on the area near Orion's sword ... |
07.24.06 Stars Can't Spin Out of ControlThis artist's animation demonstrates how a dusty planet-forming disk can slow down a whirling young star, essentially... |
06.05.06 Fade to RedThis animation shows the Andromeda galaxy, first as seen in visible light by the National Optical Astronomy Observato... |
04.05.06 Birth of 'Phoenix' Planets?This artist's animation depicts the explosive death of a massive star, followed by the creation of a disk made up of ... |
03.16.06 Cigar Galaxy up in SmokeThis movie compares a visible-light view of the "Cigar galaxy" to an infrared view from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescop... |
