Space telescopes spy forming solar systems
Posted: Mon, Dec 13, 2004, 8:36 AM ET (1336 GMT)
Images from two NASA space telescopes have allowed astronomers to observe some of the "missing links" in the formation of solar systems. Images from Hubble, released last week, show a bright dust disk surrounding HD 107146, a Sun-like star 50-250 million years old. At that age gas giants should have formed from the protoplanetary disk, but smaller terrestrial planets may still be in the process of formation. Meanwhile, the Spitzer Space Telescope has spotted remnant dust disks surrounding older stars around which extrasolar planets have previously been discovered. The discoveries, scientists said, allow them to better understand the process by which planets form from dust disks like these.
Images from two NASA space telescopes have allowed astronomers to observe some of the "missing links" in the formation of solar systems. Images from Hubble, released last week, show a bright dust disk surrounding HD 107146, a Sun-like star 50-250 million years old. At that age gas giants should have formed from the protoplanetary disk, but smaller terrestrial planets may still be in the process of formation. Meanwhile, the Spitzer Space Telescope has spotted remnant dust disks surrounding older stars around which extrasolar planets have previously been discovered. The discoveries, scientists said, allow them to better understand the process by which planets form from dust disks like these.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Tuesday, February 17
ESA Boss Couches Lunar Plans In Security Terms
Aviation Week — 1:43 am ET (0643 GMT) U.S. Smuggled Thousands of Starlink Terminals Into Iran After Protest Crackdown
Wall Street Journal — 1:42 am ET (0642 GMT) 700-plus Space Command personnel in Alabama by end of 2028, Sen. Katie Britt says
Huntsville Times — 1:41 am ET (0641 GMT) Space Race 2.0: The Competition for the Future Operating System of Space
The Diplomat — 1:35 am ET (0635 GMT) Creating New Launchpads for Space Exploration
Dartmouth Univ. — 1:35 am ET (0635 GMT) |
