Annotated Version
The potential planet-forming disk (or "protoplanetary disk") of a sun-like
star is being violently ripped away by the powerful winds of a nearby hot
O-type star in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. At up to
100 times the mass of sun-like stars, O stars are the most massive and
energetic stars in the universe.
The O star can be seen to the right of the image, as the large orange spot
with the white center. To the left, the comet-like structure is actually a
neighboring solar system that is being destroyed by the O star's powerful
winds and intense ultraviolet light.
In a process called "photoevaporation," immense output from the O star
heats up the nearby protoplanetary disk so much that gas and dust boil
off, and the disk can no longer hold together. Photon (or light) blasts
from the O star then strip the potential planet-forming disk off its
neighbor star by blowing away evaporated material. This effect is
illustrated in the smaller system's comet-like structure.
The system is located about 2,450 light-years away in the star-forming
cloud IC 1396. The image was taken with Spitzer's multiband imaging
photometer instrument at 24 microns. The picture is a pseudo-color stretch
representing intensity. Yellow and white represent hot areas, whereas
purple and blue represent relatively cooler, fainter regions.
