NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered surprising new details about an enigmatic, 93-billion-mile-long cloud of dark, fluffy dust drifting through deep space. Astronomers at the University of Arizona analyzing the massive structure determined that it is likely the aftermath of a catastrophic collision between giant planetary bodies during the violent early stages of star system formation. Challenging previous models of interstellar dust behavior, the discovery gives scientists a rare forensic snapshot of how rocky worlds smash apart and reassemble across the cosmos.
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