Organic-Bearing Planetary Disk (IMAGE)

Carnegie Institution for Science

Organic-Bearing Planetary Disk

Caption

Red and near infrared wavelengths from the dust disk surrounding the star HR 4796A (masked in false-color image to make fainter disk visible) suggest the presence of complex organic molecules. The inner "hole" of the ring-shaped disk is big enough to fit our entire solar system and may have been swept clean of dust by orbiting planets.

Credit

John Debes

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