PIA11747: Baby Jupiters Must Gain Weight Fast
Mission: Spitzer Space Telescope
Spacecraft: Spitzer Space Telescope
Instrument: IRAC
Product Size: 708 samples x 799 lines
Produced By: California Institute of Technology
Full-Res TIFF: PIA11747.tif (1.699 MB)
Full-Res JPEG: PIA11747.jpg (82.57 kB)

Click on the image to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly cropped or reduced in size from original).

Original Caption Released with Image:

This photograph from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the young star cluster NGC 2362. By studying it, astronomers found that gas giant planet formation happens very rapidly and efficiently, within less than 5 million years, meaning that Jupiter-like worlds experience a growth spurt in their infancy.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Harvard-Smithsonian CfA

Image Addition Date:
2009-01-06