ALMA erkundet Formalhauts Staubscheibe
Formalhaut ist einer der hellsten Sterne am Himmel. Mit nur 25 Lichtjahren Entfernung steht er als strahlend heller Stern des Sternbilds Piscis Austrinus (der südliche Fisch) relativ nahe zu uns. Das mit dem Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) gewonnnene Bild zeigt Formalhaut umgeben von einem Ring aus Staub und Partikeln – das ist das erste Mal, dass solch ein Bild mit so hoher Auflösung und Empfindlichkeit im Millimeterwellenbereich aufgenommen wurde.
Formalhauts Scheibe besteht aus einer Mischung aus kosmischem Staub und Gas von Kometen des Formalhauts-Systems (Exokometen), das freigesetzt wird, wenn die Kometen nahe aneinander vorbeifliegen oder gar kollidieren. Diese turbulente Umgebung gleicht einer frühen Phase unseres eigenen Sonnensystems, die man auch als das Große Bombardement bezeichnet, eine Phase, die ungefähr 4 Milliarden Jahre zurückliegt. In dieser Zeit wurden viele Felsbrocken ins innere Sonnensystem befördert, was zu Zusammenstößen mit den jungen erdähnlichen Planeten einschließlich der Erde führte und Myriaden von Einschlagskratern hinterlassen hat, von denen noch heute viele auf Merkur und Mars sichtbar sind.
Es ist bereits bekannt, dass Formalhaut von mehreren Staubringen umgeben ist – der in diesem Bild von ALMA sichtbare ist der äußere. Er ist ungefähr 20 Milliarden Kilometer vom Zentralstern entfernt und etwa 2 Milliarden Kilometer breit. Ein so schmaler und exzentrischer Ring kann nur durch den Gravitationseinfluss von Planeten im System entstehen, so wie Jupiter Einfluss auf unseren Asteroidengürtel nimmt. Im Jahr 2008 entdeckte das NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope den berühmten Exoplaneten Fomalhaut b, der innerhalb dieses Gürtels seinen Zentralstern umkreist. Er ist auf dieser ALMA-Aufnahme jedoch nicht sichtbar.
Bildnachweis:ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/L. Matrà/M. A. MacGregor
Über das Bild
| ID: | potw1721a |
| Sprache: | de-be |
| Typ: | Beobachtung |
| Veröffentlichungsdatum: | 22. Mai 2017 06:00 |
| Größe: | 3191 x 2064 px |
Über das Objekt
| Name: | Fomalhaut |
| Typ: | Milky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Disk : Debris |
| Entfernung: | 25 Lichtjahre |
| Constellation: | Piscis Austrinus |
Bildschirm-Hintergrundbilder
Koordinaten
| Position (RA): | 22 57 39.05 |
| Position (Dec): | -29° 37' 18.51" |
| Field of view: | 0.70 x 0.45 arcminutes |
| Orientierung: | Die Nordrichtung liegt 90.0° rechts zur Vertikale |
Farben & Filter
| Spektralbereich | Wellenlänge | Teleskop |
|---|---|---|
| Millimeter 230.538 GHz | 1.3 mm | Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 6 |
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