Ethereal New Image Reveals The Birth of Giant Jupiter-Like Worlds
SPACE
30 July 2023
By MICHELLE STARR
Combined SPHERE and ALMA observations of material around V960 Mon. (ESO/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/Weber et al.)
New observations of the roiling cloud of dust around a baby star have revealed what looks like the early stages in the gestation of giant planets.
By using the Very Large Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, astronomers have identified clumps in the thick material around a star named V960 Mon that could gravitationally collapse to form the seeds of planets like Jupiter.
It's a discovery that could help us better understand the formation of these huge worlds, a process shrouded in dust and mystery.
"This discovery is truly captivating as it marks the very first detection of clumps around a young star that have the potential to give rise to giant planets," says astronomer Alice Zurlo of the Universidad Diego Portales in Chile.
According to models, gas giant planets have two possible formation routes. You start with a baby star, surrounded by swirling material leftover from the star's formation. It's from these leftovers that planets are born.
More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/ethereal-new-image-reveals-the-birth-of-giant-jupiter-like-worlds
= new reply since forum marked as read
My Son The Astronomer is doing exoplanet research, and I'll have to check in with him if he's seen this.
Thank you.
