Buckyballs Detected in SMC
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Science History Images / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
HRJJAXFile size:
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3300 x 2550 px | 27.9 x 21.6 cm | 11 x 8.5 inches | 300dpiPhotographer:
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This image could have imperfections as it’s either historical or reportage.
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected little spheres of carbon, called buckyballs, in a galaxy beyond the Milky Way. The space balls were detected in a dying star, called a planetary nebula, within the nearby galaxy, the Small Magellanic Cloud. Huge quantities were found - the equivalent in mass to 15 of our moons. An infrared photo of the Small Magellanic Cloud taken by Spitzer is shown here in this artist's illustration, with two callouts. The middle callout shows a magnified view of an example of a planetary nebula, and the right callout shows an even further magnified depiction of buckyballs, which consist of 60 carbon atoms arranged like soccer balls.