AU Microscopii

This set of images of a 40-billion-mile-diameter edge-on disk encircling the young star AU Microscopii reveals a string of mysterious wave-like features. When astronomers compared images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, taken in 2010 and 2011, to a 2014 image from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT), they discovered the ripples are moving across the disk at a speed of 22,000 miles per hour. Such high velocities rule out the possibility that these features are caused by planets or smaller objects in the disk. Pending further research, the phenomenon remains unknown. Such structures have never before been seen in stellar gas and dust disks. The images are false-colored to bring out structural details in the disk.

About the data

Hubble data for this release were obtained from HST proposal 12228 : PI: G. Schneider and AU Mic data team: C. Stark (NASA/GSFC), J. Debes (STScI), C. Grady (Eureka Scientific), D. Hines (STScI), M. Kuchner (NASA/GSFC), M. Perrin (STScI), M. Silverstone (Eureka Scientific), A. Weinberger (Carnegie Institution of Washington), J. Wisniewski (University of Oklahoma, Norman), P. Hinz (University of Arizona), J. Carson (College of Charleston), T. Henning (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg), A. Moro-Martin (STScI), M. Tamura (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan), H. Jang-Condell (University of Wyoming, Laramie), B. Woodgate (NASA/GSFC), M. Goto (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg), and G. Serabyn (JPL).

The international team of astronomers in this study consists of: A. Boccaletti (Paris Observatory, CNRS, France), C. Thalmann (ETH Zürich, Switzerland), A.-M. Lagrange (University of Grenoble Alpes, France; CNRS, IPAG, France), M. Janson (Stockholm University; Max Planck Institute for Astronomy), J.-C. Augereau (University of Grenoble Alpes, France; CNRS, IPAG, France), G. Schneider (Steward Observatory, University of Arizona), J. Milli (ESO, Chile; CNRS, IPAG, France), C. Grady (Eureka Scientific), J. Debes (STScI), M. Langlois (CNRS/ENS-L, France), D. Mouillet (University of Grenoble Alpes; CNRS, IPAG, France), T. Henning (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy), C. Dominik (University of Amsterdam), A.-L. Maire (INAF-Observatory of Astronomy, Padova, Italy), J.-L. Beuzit (University of Grenoble Alpes; CNRS, IPAG, France), J. Carson (College of Charleston), K. Dohlen (CNRS, LAM, France), M. Feldt (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy), T. Fusco (ONERA, France; CNRS, LAM, France), C. Ginski (Sterrewacht Leiden, Netherlands), J. Girard (ESO, Chile; CNRS, IPAG, France), D. Hines (STScI), M. Kasper (ESO, Germany; CNRS, IPAG, France), D. Mawet (ESO, Chile), F. Ménard (University of Chile), M. Meyer (ETH Zürich, Switzerland), C. Moutou (CNRS, LAM, France), J. Olofsson (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy), T. Rodigas (Carnegie Institution of Washington), J.-F. Sauvage (ONERA, France; CNRS, LAM, France), J. Schlieder (NASA Ames Research Center; Max Planck Institute for Astronomy), H.M. Schmid (ETH Zürich, Switzerland), M. Turatto (INAF-Observatory of Astronomy, Padova, Italy), S. Udry (Geneva Observatory, Switzerland), F. Vakili (University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, CNRS, France), A. Vigan (CNRS, LAM, France; ESO, Chile), Z. Wahhaj (ESO, Chile; CNRS, LAM, France) and J. Wisniewski (University of Oklahoma, Norman).