This video is a re-upload that fixes the scale bar on the bottom right.
The planet Fomalhaut b (indicated with the white arrow) is in orbit around its star, which harbors a large ring of rocky debris (analogous to our own Kuiper belt). We are seeing the entire system inclined about 65°, so the ring of debris looks elliptical. Based on current analysis, Fomalhaut b looks to be on a trajectory that passes straight through the debris belt.
In this video, we show an 8 year time-lapse using data from the Hubble Space Telescope. The motion of the planet is smoothed in time using a custom motion interpolation algorithm. The ring of rocky debris that you see is a composite made from the various Hubble images that went into this movie (no single Hubble image is able to see the whole ring due to its size). The radial streaks of light emanating from the star is light scattering off of the optics of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Credits: Jason Wang (Northwestern)/Paul Kalas (UC Berkeley)
I made more of these! Check them out here: [ Ссылка ]
