/ Modified nov 12, 2024 1:40 p.m.

Webb telescope delivers new ideas about Milky Way star Vega

UA-built camera shows vast, smooth dust disk surrounding the star.

Webb Vega James Webb Space Telescope's MIRI imager shows dust cloud around Vega.
NASA

University of Arizona astronomers are discovering unexpected information about one of the brightest stars in the Milky Way.

Vega has been interesting for scientists because of material orbiting the star that seemed to be planets. Instead, according to UA professor Andras Gaspar, the interstellar dust around Vega appears to be smooth and made up of sand-sized particles. He says the discovery came from combining observations from the Hubble and James Webb Space telescopes.

“Funding new science and new methods of observing objects means that you always learn new information and you are always surprised,” Gaspar explained.

Gaspar co-authored research on the subject recently published in The Astrophysical Journal.

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