Artist’s impression of exocomets around Beta Pictoris

This artist’s impression shows exocomets orbiting the star Beta Pictoris. Astronomers analysing observations of nearly 500 individual comets made with the HARPS instrument at ESO’s La Silla Observatory have discovered two families of exocomets around this nearby young star. The first consists of old exocomets that have made multiple passages near the star. The second family, shown in this illustration, consists of younger exocomets on the same orbit, which probably came from the recent breakup of one or more larger objects.

Credit:

ESO/L. Calçada

About the Image

Id:eso1432a
Type:Artwork
Release date:22 October 2014, 19:00
Related releases:eso1432
Size:5000 x 3118 px

About the Object

Name:Beta Pictoris
Type:Milky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Disk
Category:Illustrations

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