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Astronomy

James Webb Space Telescope produces amazing images of rings around a nearby star

New images offer the first look at a complex ring system of inner belts that surround a young, nearby star.

May 9, 2023

This image of the dusty debris disk surrounding the young star Fomalhaut is from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). It reveals three nested belts extending out to 14 billion miles (23 billion kilometers) from the star. The inner belts – which had never been seen before – were revealed by Webb for the first time.

The Hubble Space Telescope and Herschel Space Observatory, as well as the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), have previously taken sharp images of the outermost belt. However, none of them found any structure interior to it.

These belts most likely are carved by the gravitational forces produced by unseen planets.

Six planets will be aligned tonight. Here’s where to look.

If you have the right equipment, you’ll be able to see five planets in the night sky today. Without equipment, you could see four. And if you’re willing to wake up before sunrise, you could see Saturn, too. This is a relatively rare astronomical phenomenon, getting to see so many planets over the course of one evening — but it doesn't “mean” anything, it’s just a neat occurrence.

Cody Boteler

Mar 29, 2023

This rendering shows Jupiter and Mercury, which will be low on the western horizon immediately following sunset as seen from Baltimore. Venus, the brightest object is higher above the horizon

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