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...
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