Labelled overview of the Hyades star cluster (ground-based image)
This image shows the region around the Hyades star cluster, the nearest open cluster to us. The Hyades cluster is very well-studied due to its location, but previous searches for planets have produced only one. A new study led by Jay Farihi of the University of Cambridge, UK, has now found the atmospheres of two burnt-out stars in this cluster — known as white dwarfs — to be “polluted” by rocky debris circling the star.
Inset, the locations of these white dwarf stars are indicated — stars known as WD 0421+162, and WD 0431+126.
NASA, ESA, STScI, and Z. Levay (STScI)
About the Image
|Release date:||9 May 2013, 16:00|
|Size:||6334 x 4937 px|
About the Object
|Name:||Hyades, WD0421+162, WD0431+126|
|Type:||• Milky Way : Star : Evolutionary Stage : White Dwarf|
• Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster : Open
• Milky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Disk : Debris
• X - Stars Images/Videos
• X - Star Clusters Images/Videos
|Distance:||150 light years|
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