James Webb Telescope Uncovers Surprising Discoveries in Space

1 min read
Source: NASASpaceflight.com
James Webb Telescope Uncovers Surprising Discoveries in Space
Photo: NASASpaceflight.com
TL;DR

The James Webb Space Telescope has directly imaged three dusty disks surrounding a young star called Fomalhaut, including an asteroid belt and two previously undiscovered inner disks. The disks were created from collisions between large bodies of gas, rock, and other cosmic material and serve as places for left-over material from the formation of the star to clump together and potentially form planets or asteroids. Webb's observations allowed scientists to measure the sizes of the disks and compare their characteristics to that of our own asteroid and Kuiper belts. Astronomers believe that the disks were likely carved out by the gravitational forces of planets orbiting Fomalhaut.

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