Scientists Intrigued by Incredibly Long Structure Lurking in Nearby Star System
It stretches across over 93 billion miles. The post Scientists Intrigued by Incredibly Long Structure Lurking in Nearby Star System appeared first on Futurism .
Scientists are intrigued by an extraordinarily long structure, dubbed the "Cat's Tail," located 63 light-years away from Earth within the Beta Pictoris star system. Discovered by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and further observed with the Hubble Space Telescope, the 1,000 astronomical unit-long feature was previously invisible in visible light due to its carbon-based composition.
The Cat's Tail is believed to have formed from the collision of Pluto-like planetary bodies, scattering dust across vast distances. Scientists from the University of Arizona studied the structure using infrared and visible-light images and found that the protrusion may extend sideways rather than behind the star. Additionally, they observed a warp in the dust halo surrounding Beta Pictoris, possibly caused by gravitational influences from the system's three known planets.
The findings offer insights into the early stages of our own solar system's formation, as Beta Pictoris is only 23 million years old.
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