This artist's concept, released on July 24, 2006, shows a dusty planet-forming disk in orbit around a whirling young star. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope found evidence that disks like this one can slow their stars down, which prevents the stars from spinning themselves to death. A developing star is essentially a giant ball of gas that is collapsing onto itself. As it shrinks, it spins faster and faster, like a skater folding in his or her arms. As gravity continues to pull matter inward, the star spins so fast, it starts to flatten out. The same principle applies to the planet [Saturn], whose spin has caused it to be slightly squashed or oblate.
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(CREDIT : REUTERS/NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC)/Handout )