gas disk tagged posts

This is an ALMA image of the dust disk around HL Tauri. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)

A new analysis of ALMA data for young star HL Tauri provides yet more firm evidence of baby planets around the star. 2 gaps in the gas disk around HL Tauri were uncovered. The locations of these gaps in the gas match the locations of gaps in the dust found in the ALMA high resolution image taken in 2014. This discovery supports the idea that planets form in much shorter timescales than previously thought and prompts a reconsideration of alternative planet formation scenarios.

In November 2014, ALMA released a startling image of HL Tauri and its dust disk. This image, the sharpest ever taken for this kind of object, clearly depicts several gaps in the dust disk around the star...

Artist’s impression of the baby star TMC-1A. The star is located in the center and surrounded by a rotating gas disk. Gas is infalling to the disk from the envelope further out. Credit: Image courtesy of National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

The first direct observations delineating the gas disk around a baby star from the infalling gas envelope has been made. This finding fills an important missing piece in our understanding of the early phases of stellar evolution. The baby star TMC-1A is 450 light years away in the constellation Taurus. TMC-1A is a protostar, a star still in the process of forming. Large amounts of gas still surround TMC-1A.

Stars form in dense gas clouds. Baby stars grow by taking in the surrounding gas. In this process, gas cannot flow directly into the star...