GPI images
The Gemini Planet Imager's first-light image of the light scattered by a disk of dust orbiting the young star HR4796A. This narrow ring is thought to be dust from asteroids or comets left behind by planet formation. Some scientists have theorized that the sharp edge of the ring is defined by an unseen planet.
The image on the left shows normal light, including both the dust ring and the residual light from the central star scattered by turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere. The right image shows only polarized light.
The GPI's Integral Field Spectrometer, which takes the pictures and records the spectra, was designed at UCLA.
Credit: Processing by Marshall Perrin, Space Telescope Science Institute
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