protoplanetary discs – Astronomy Now

Thick, persistent dust disc challenges planet formation theory

29 December 2019 Astronomy Now

Protoplanetary discs are expected to dissipate as planets form and solar winds push debris away, but some stars defy current theory.

A deep infrared view of the Orion Nebula from the Very Large Telescope

24 March 2019 Astronomy Now

A deep infrared view of the Orion Nebula reveals an abundance of faint brown dwarfs and an unexpected number of planetary-mass objects, key elements in studies of star formation and the environments that produce them.

Binary star system found with polar dust disc

17 January 2019 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have found a binary star system with a ring of debris tilted at right angles to the plane of the stars’ orbit, indicating planets likely can form in a wide variety of orientations.

ALMA finds well-developed protoplanetary discs around young suns

12 December 2018 Astronomy Now

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array has captured stunning views of 20 protoplanetary discs around young, nearby stars, all of them suggesting planets are forming faster than expected

How did a very young star end up with four gas giants?

15 October 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have discovered evidence of three more gas giant worlds orbiting a star already known to host a ‘hot Jupiter’ in an extremely close orbit. The observations raise new questions about how solar systems form.

X-rays indicate collision of young planets may explain star’s dimming

20 July 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers struggling to understand why an unusual stars periodically fades and brightens have collected X-ray observations indicating it may be due to the catastrophic collision of two infant planets.

Three planets found around dust-shrouded star

14 June 2018 Astronomy Now

By measuring the motion of carbon monoxide molecules in a protoplanetary disc, two teams of astronomers have found three planets lurking in the rings of dust around a star just a few million years old.

Diamond dust may be source of unusual emissions

11 June 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have detected microwave emissions from three protoplanetary disks that apparently are generated by vast clouds of tiny, spinning nanodiamonds, tiny motes of carbon found in star-forming regions

SPHERE reveals protoplanetary discs being shaped by newborn planets

9 November 2016 Astronomy Now

Three teams of astronomers have made use of SPHERE, an advanced exoplanet-hunting instrument on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at ESO’s Paranal Observatory, in order to shed light on the enigmatic evolution of fledgling planetary systems. The explosion in the number of known exoplanets in recent years has made the study of them one of the most dynamic fields in modern astronomy.

ALMA sees early stages of planet formation around a binary star

13 February 2016 Astronomy Now

To better understand how planets in binary star systems form and evolve, astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) took a new, detailed look at the planet-forming disc around HD 142527, a binary star about 450 light-years from Earth in a cluster of young stars known as the Scorpius-Centaurus Association.