By Dean Murray via SWNS
A jaw-dropping series of images shows the birth of planets.
The stunning pictures, captured using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile, represent one of the largest-ever surveys of planet-forming discs.
In the series of studies, a team of astronomers has been able to shed new light on the fascinating and complex process of planet formation.
The research brings together observations of more than 80 young stars that might have planets forming around them, providing astronomers with a wealth of data and unique insights into how planets arise in different regions of our galaxy.
“This is really a shift in our field of study,” says Christian Ginski, a lecturer at the University of Galway, Ireland, and lead author of one of three new papers published on Tuesday (5 March) in Astronomy & Astrophysics. “We’ve gone from the intense study of individual star systems to this huge overview of entire star-forming regions.”
ESO says: “To date, more than 5000 planets have been discovered orbiting stars other than the Sun, often within systems markedly different from our own Solar System.
“To understand where and how this diversity arises, astronomers must observe the dust- and gas-rich discs that envelop young stars — the very cradles of planet formation. These are best found in huge gas clouds where the stars themselves are forming.”
Much like mature planetary systems, the new images showcase the extraordinary diversity of planet-forming discs.
“Some of these discs show huge spiral arms, presumably driven by the intricate ballet of orbiting planets,” says Ginski. “Others show rings and large cavities carved out by forming planets, while yet others seem smooth and almost dormant among all this bustle of activity,” adds Antonio Garufi, an astronomer at the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), and lead author of one of the papers.
The team studied a total of 86 stars across three different star-forming regions of our galaxy: Taurus and Chamaeleon I, both around 600 light-years from Earth, and Orion, a gas-rich cloud about 1600 light-years from us that is known to be the birthplace of several stars more massive than the Sun.
The observations were gathered by a large international team, comprising scientists from more than 10 countries.
The team was able to glean several key insights from the dataset. For example, in Orion they found that stars in groups of two or more were less likely to have large planet-forming discs.
ESO says: “This is a significant result given that, unlike our Sun, most stars in our galaxy have companions. As well as this, the uneven appearance of the discs in this region suggests the possibility of massive planets embedded within them, which could be causing the discs to warp and become misaligned.”
As technology advances, the team hopes to delve even deeper into the heart of planet-forming systems. The large 39-meter mirror of ESO’s forthcoming Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), for example, will enable the team to study the innermost regions around young stars, where rocky planets like our own might be forming.
For now, the spectacular images provide researchers with a treasure trove of data to help unpick the mysteries of planet formation.
“It is almost poetic that the processes that mark the start of the journey towards forming planets and ultimately life in our own Solar System should be so beautiful,” says Per-Gunnar Valegård, a doctoral student at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, who led the Orion study.
