Hubble Spots Giant Flapping Shadow

  • Released Thursday, June 25th, 2020
  • Updated Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023 at 1:44PM
  • ID: 13638

In 2017, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured an image of a huge wing-shaped shadow cast by a fledgling star’s unseen, planet-forming disk. The young star, called HBC 672, is casting the shadow across a more distant cloud in a star-forming region—like a fly wandering into the beam of a flashlight shining on a wall.

Now, after observing the shadow again, astronomers report that they see the giant shadow flapping its "wings"!

For more information about the Hubble Space Telescope and its images, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble.

Music Credits:
“Floating Freefall” by Jason Steele [ ASCAP ]. Soundcast Music [ SESAC ] and Universal Production Music.

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Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Missions

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