{"id":21876,"date":"2020-05-20T08:00:10","date_gmt":"2020-05-20T12:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=21876"},"modified":"2020-05-19T11:36:57","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T15:36:57","slug":"eso-vlt-sees-evidence-of-a-planet-forming-in-disc-of-dust-and-gas-around-star-ab-aurigae","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=21876","title":{"rendered":"ESO: VLT sees evidence of a planet forming in disc of dust and gas around star AB Aurigae"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest news from ESO (European Southern Observatory)<\/a>:<\/p>\n

ESO Telescope Sees Signs of Planet Birth<\/a>
\n<\/strong>The Twist Marks the Spot<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
This image shows the disc around the young AB Aurigae star, where ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has spotted signs of planet birth. Close to the centre of the image, in the inner region of the disc, we see the \u2018twist\u2019 (in very bright yellow) that scientists believe marks the spot where a planet is forming. This twist lies at about the same distance from the AB Aurigae star as Neptune from the Sun.
The image was obtained with the VLT\u2019s SPHERE instrument in polarised light.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Observations made with the European Southern Observatory\u2019s Very Large Telescope (ESO\u2019s VLT) have revealed the telltale signs of a star system being born. Around the young star AB Aurigae lies a dense disc of dust and gas in which astronomers have spotted a prominent spiral structure with a \u2018twist\u2019 that marks the site where a planet may be forming. The observed feature could be the first direct evidence of a baby planet coming into existence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThousands of exoplanets have been identified so far, but little is known about how they form,\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

says Anthony Boccaletti who led the study from the Observatoire de Paris, PSL University, France. Astronomers know planets are born in dusty discs surrounding young stars, like AB Aurigae, as cold gas and dust clump together. The new observations with ESO\u2019s VLT<\/a>, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, provide crucial clues to help scientists better understand this process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to observe very young systems to really capture the moment when planets form,\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

says Boccaletti. But until now astronomers had been unable to take sufficiently sharp and deep images of these young discs to find the \u2018twist\u2019 that marks the spot where a baby planet may be coming to existence.<\/p>\n