planet formation tagged posts

An artist’s impression of the innumerable Earth-like planets that have yet to be born over the next trillion years in the evolving universe. Credit: NASA / ESA / G. Bacon (STScI)

Earth came early to the party in the evolving universe. According to a new theoretical study, when our solar system was born 4.6 B years ago only 8% of the potentially habitable planets that will ever form in the universe existed. And, the party won’t be over when the sun burns out in another 6B years. The bulk of those planets – 92% – have yet to be born.

This conclusion is based on an assessment of data collected by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and the prolific planet-hunting Kepler space observatory...

Using images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and ESO’s Very Large Telescope, astronomers have discovered fast-moving wave-like features in the dusty disc around the nearby star AU Microscopii. These odd structures are unlike anything ever observed, or even predicted, before now. Credit: ESO, NASA & ESA

Astronomers have discovered never-before-seen structures within a dusty disc surrounding a nearby star. The fast-moving wave-like features in the disc of the star AU Microscopii are unlike anything ever observed, or even predicted, before now. The origin and nature of these features present a new mystery for astronomers to explore.

AU Microscopii, or AU Mic, is a young, nearby star surrounded by a large disc of dust...

Artist’s impression of a dusty disc around a red dwarf star. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle (SSC)

Astronomers have found large discs of dust around 2 of the stars, tell-tale signs of planets in the process of forming. “We think the Earth and all the other planets formed from discs like these so it is fascinating to see a potential new solar system evolving,” said the lead researcher Dr Simon Murphy, from the ANU Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics.

“However, other stars of this age usually don’t have discs any more. The red dwarf discs seem to live longer than those of hotter stars like the Sun. We don’t understand why,” said Dr Murphy. The discovery of objects like these 2 challenges current theories about planet formation...

One of the best ways to learn how our solar system evolved is to look to younger star systems in the early stages of development. Now, a team of astronomers has discovered a Jupiter-like planet within a young system that could serve as a decoder ring for understanding how planets formed around our sun. The first planet detected by the Gemini Planet Imager is 100 light-years away but shares many of the characteristics of an early Jupiter.

The new planet, called 51 Eridani b, is the first exoplanet discovered by the Gemini Planet Imager, a new instrument operated by an international collaboration headed by  Professor Bruce Macintosh...