By capturing these time lapses, the researchers can glean valuable details about these impressive weather patterns, such as how much dust gets swept up, how fast they're moving, and in what direction.

The 747 travels at a speed of 885 km/h (550 mph), the Blackbird can reach a top speed of 4,345 km/h (2,700 mph) while New Horizons is currently moving at a staggering 57,936 km/h (36,000 mph).

Fast-moving dust could theoretically knock microbes floating high up in a world's atmosphere out into space, potentially sending the bugs on a trip to another planet — perhaps even one orbiting ...

"Lucky for astronomers, then, that circumstellar disks still turn out to have surprises such as the fast-moving dust features of AU Mic." The new research was described Oct. 7 in the journal Nature.