Wihout knowledge of other planets beyond our Solar System,
there is no way to understand our cosmic origins. With the discovery of
new solar systems and exo-planets, scientists will be able to compare
interstellar molecules and stellar energy output across the Milky Way.
Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope in
Chile (photo below) have obtained what is likely the first direct
observation of a forming planet still embedded in a thick disc of gas
and dust. If confirmed, this discovery will greatly improve our
understanding of how planets form and allow astronomers to test the
current theories against an observable target.
The protoplanet candidate orbits about 70 times further from its star
than the Earth does from the Sun. This distance is comparable to the
size of the orbits of outer Solar System dwarf planets
such as Eris and Makemake. This location is controversial, as it does
not fit well with current theories of planet formation. It is unclear at
present whether the newfound planet candidate has been in its current
position for the whole time since it formed or whether it could have
migrated from the inner regions.
It is also possible that the newly detected object might not be a
protoplanet, but a fully formed planet which was ejected from its
original orbit closer to the star. When the new object around HD 100546
is confirmed to be a forming planet embedded in its parent disc of gas
and dust, it will become an unique laboratory in which to study the
formation process of a new planetary system.
An international team led by Sascha Quanz (ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
has studied the disc of gas and dust that surrounds the young star HD
100546, a relatively nearby neighbor located 335 light-years from Earth.
They were surprised to find what seems to be a planet in the process of
being formed, still embedded in the disc of material around the young
star. The candidate planet would be a gas giant similar to Jupiter.
“So far, planet formation has mostly been a topic tackled by computer
simulations,” says Sascha Quanz. “If our discovery is indeed a forming
planet, then for the first time scientists will be able to study the
planet formation process and the interaction of a forming planet and its
natal environment empirically at a very early stage.”
Star HD 100546 is a well-studied object, and it has already been
suggested that a giant planet orbits about six times further from the
star than the Earth is from the Sun. The newly found planet candidate is
located in the outer regions of the system, about ten times further
out.
To study planet formation, astronomers cannot look at the Solar
System, as all the planets in our neighborhood were formed more than
four billion years ago. But for many years, theories about planet
formation were strongly influenced by what astronomers could see in our
local surroundings, as no other planets were known.
Since 1995, when the first exoplanet around a sunlike star was
discovered, several hundred planetary systems have been found, opening
up new opportunities for scientists studying planetary formation. Up to
now however, none have been “caught in the act” in the process of being
formed, while still embedded in the disc of material around their young
parent star.
The planet candidate around HD 100546 was detected as a faint blob located in the circumstellar disc
revealed thanks to the NACO adaptive optics instrument on ESO’s VLT,
combined with pioneering data analysis techniques. The observations were
made using a special coronagraph in NACO, which operates at
near-infrared wavelengths and suppresses the brilliant light coming from
the star at the location of the protoplanet candidate. The team made
use of a special feature called an apodised phase plate that increases the contrast of the image close to the star.
According to current theory, giant planets grow by capturing some of the gas and dust that remains after the formation of a star.
The astronomers have spotted several features in the new image of the
disc around HD100546 that support this protoplanet hypothesis.
Structures in the dusty circumstellar disc, which could be caused by
interactions between the planet and the disc, were revealed close to the
detected protoplanet. Also, there are indications that the surroundings
of the protoplanet are potentially heated up by the formation process.
Although the protoplanet is the most likely explanation for the
observations, the results of this study require follow-up observations
to confirm the existence of the planet and discard other plausible
scenarios. Among other explanations, it is possible, although unlikely,
that the detected signal could have come from a background source.
Image credits: ESO and The Pittsburg Supercomputing Center
Source: The Daily Galaxy via ESO
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