One of the results reported here at the AAS meeting is what astronomers think are almost “real time” views of collisions of planetoids in a dust disk surrounding the star Beta Pictoris. It turns out that when these little bodies crash into each other they send out clouds of particles, which then dissipate. Judging by the rate of dissipation and the extent of such a cloud, astronomers have been able to figure out that the cloud of material they’ve observed in Beta Pic’s circumstellar disk came from a collision that could have happened as little as a hundred years ago! This artist’s conception shows what the system would look like if you could be on the scene, viewing it with infrared-enhanced eyes. If you want to see additional images and discussion, point your browser to the link above and enjoy!
I’m at the American Astronomical Society meeting in San Diego, one of two annual AAS meetings that bring together astronomers from around the world. I always have a blast at these things and come away with exciting findings and ideas from astronomers. So, there were several big findings released on Monday, including this amazing image from Hubble Space Telescope. It’s a barred spiral called NGC 1300, and if you download the image from the link above, you’ll see starburst regions, streamers of gas and dust, and millions of blue supergiant stars that will last only about 10 million years before exploding as supernovae!
You never know when you get a chance to stand next to a galaxy!
Keep checking back here this week and I’ll try to post something cool and exciting every day!
I’ve also posted a page of headlines and links to some other interesting science stories HERE!
