BP Piscium, Evolved Sun-like Star, Illustration
BP Piscium (BP Psc), a more evolved version of our Sun about 1,000 light years from Earth. In the close-up view shown in the artist's illustration, BP Psc is surrounded by a dusty and gaseous disk and has a pair of jets several light years long blasting out of the system. For clarity a narrow jet is shown, but the actual jet is probably much wider, extending across the inner regions of the disk. Because of the dusty disk, the star's surface is obscured in optical and near-infrared light. Therefore, the Chandra observation is the first detection of this star in any wavelength. The disk and the jets provide evidence for a recent and catastrophic interaction in which BP Psc consumed a nearby star or giant planet. This happened when BP Psc ran out of nuclear fuel and expanded into its "red giant" phase. Jets and a disk are often characteristics of very young stars, so astronomers thought BP Psc might be one as well. However, the new Chandra results argue against this interpretation, because the X-ray source is fainter than expected for a young star. Another argument previously used against the possible youth of BP Psc was that it is not located near any star-forming cloud and there are no other known young stars in its immediate vicinity. Release date September 14, 2010.
Size: 4500px × 2912px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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