Science & Tech · Space · 16 hrs ago
Hubble captures the Cat’s Tail near Beta Pictoris in visible light
Hubble has captured the Cat’s Tail in visible light for the first time near Beta Pictoris, about 65 light-years from Earth.
The young star, about 18.5 million years old, is still surrounded by rubble left from the formation of its planets.
The tail was first spotted in 2024 by the James Webb Space Telescope, which detected its warm dust in infrared light.
The streak may be debris from a collision between two large icy worlds, each at least about the size of Pluto’s moon Charon.
Hubble’s images, combined from observations taken between 2012 and 2025, show that the dust is extremely dark and rich in carbon, which helps explain why it was hard to see in visible light.
Models also suggest the grains are unusually porous, but scientists do not yet understand how they formed.
The collision’s details and the dust’s formation remain uncertain, and the account gives no next step for the research.
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the Cat’s Tail near the young star Beta Pictoris in visible light for the first time.
The faint streak of dust may be debris from a collision between two large icy worlds.
The James Webb Space Telescope first revealed the tail in infrared light in 2024.
Hubble images taken in six rounds between 2012 and 2025 were combined to produce the deepest image of the system so far.
Models suggest the dust is 85% to 99% carbon-rich material by weight and that its grains are highly porous.
- Who
- The Hubble Space Telescope captured the Cat’s Tail. A research team led by University of Arizona doctoral student Arin Avsar studied it.
- What
- Hubble recorded the dust streak in visible light for the first time. Researchers say it may be debris from a collision between large icy worlds.
- When
- The Hubble images were taken in six rounds between 2012 and 2025. The article was published on November 9, 2026.
- Where
- Near the star Beta Pictoris, about 65 light-years from Earth.
- Why
- The tail is thought to be the aftermath of a collision between large bodies. Its carbon-rich dust absorbs visible light, making it very faint.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Hubble images of the Beta Pictoris system were taken in six rounds and later stacked to reveal the Cat’s Tail in visible light.
The James Webb Space Telescope first revealed the Cat’s Tail in infrared light, and astronomers gave the streak its nickname.
Earth.com published an article about Hubble’s visible-light view of the Cat’s Tail.
- Star
- Beta Pictoris
- Distance from Earth
- About 65 light-years
- Age of star
- Roughly 18.5 million years
- Hubble observations
- Six rounds between 2012 and 2025
- Carbon-rich material in dust
- 85% to 99% by weight
- Dust-grain empty volume
- 55% to 93%
What people are saying
The Cat’s Tail is thought to be the aftermath of a collision between large bodies – think something like Pluto,
We think the Cat’s Tail has eluded our observations in visible light until now because of what it’s made of,
It’s possible that the velocities involved in the collisions were so high that the carbon grains vaporized, turned into gas, and then recondensed as they cooled, and that’s how they became so porous,