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The Birth of a Giant Planet? | ESO
- Published_at:2013-02-28
- Category:Science & Technology
- Channel:SpaceLibrary
- tags:
- description: ESO - The Birth of a Giant Planet? - Candidate protoplanet spotted inside its stellar womb Like: https://www.facebook.com/SpaceLibrary Astronomers using ESO's Very Large Telescope 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. 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 neighbour 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. 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 ESO
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| 2013-03-02 | 2,212 | 22 | 5 |
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