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Previously Unseen Stage of Planet Formation Observed

Posted by Soulskill on from the fully-operational-battleplanets dept.

SchrodingerZ writes "Seen from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile; scientists have detected a gas giant planet focusing material from a gas cloud toward a main star. The star, HD 142527, is a young 2 million years old, and is 450 light-years from Earth. The system has 'A disk of spinning dust and gas left over from its formation... and from this material, planets are being created.' The planetesimals are drawing material from the dust cloud inward, effectively fueling the expansion of the parent star, currently twice the size of our own Sun. 'Theoretical simulations have predicted such bridges between outer and inner portions of disks surrounding stars, but none have been directly observed until now.' Simon Casassus, lead scientist at the University of Chile, said, 'Currently, the only mechanism known to produce such gap-crossing dense molecular flows, with residual carbon monoxide gas more diffusely spread out inside the gap, is planetary formation.' While the planets currently are not visible, their presence is very noticeable. More examination of the dust cloud is needed to precisely pinpoint the planet(s)."

5 of 20 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Very cool! by alendit · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_space#Intergalactic

    Present estimates put the average energy density of the Universe at the equivalent of 5.9 protons per cubic meter, including dark energy, dark matter, and ordinary, baryonic matter, or atoms.

    The Nature IS vacuum.

  2. Please let warp drive work in my lifetime by eksith · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So I can at least get live pictures of things like this happening close-up at least before I die

    --
    If computers were people, I'd be a misanthrope.
    1. Re:Please let warp drive work in my lifetime by Jetra · · Score: 2

      Technically, it happened 450 years ago, so who knows what it looks like now? (I know, I know, 1 light-year =/= a year. If someone can give me proper calculations, it would be appreciated)

  3. Re:No more science articles please. by SternisheFan · · Score: 2

    I swear, one day soon I'm going to submit 2 story titles with no story to them, and I bet that they'll get hundreds of replies... "Apple Patent Case" & "Windows 8".

  4. Re:Very cool! by fatphil · · Score: 2

    I thought that could only occur within a dyson sphere?

    --
    Also FatPhil on SoylentNews, id 863