planet formation tagged posts

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...

These ‘pebbles’ detected for 1st time: crucial link in building planets. Since1990s, astronomers have found both disks of gas and dust, and nearly 2000 fully formed planets, but the intermediate stages of formation are harder to detect.

Dr Greaves and Dr Anita Richards from Manchester University used e-MERLIN array of radio telescopes centred on Jodrell Bank, Cheshire, and that stretches across England in an interferometer, mimicking resolution of a single large telescope. They observed the star DG Tauri, a youthful star just 2.5 million years old and 450 light years away in constellation of Taurus. Looking at radio wavelengths, they discovered a faint glow characteristic of rocks in orbit around the newly formed star.

An artist’s imp...