When you buy through links in our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn commission. A protoplanetary disk of gas and dust around a young star. Dark grooves are being carved out as gas and ice giant planets form. | Credit: LMU/Thomas Zankl, crushed eyes media Researchers may have discovered a hidden ingredient in… Read More »
When you buy through links in our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn commission. An illustration of the “dust trap” around the newborn star IRS 48. | Credit: ESO/L. Calçada Scientists have long wondered how the complex molecules necessary for life formed in the turbulent and violent environment of the Sun in its… Read More »
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have discovered the richest hydrocarbon “menu” ever seen in the planet-forming disk. This observation, which involved a protoplanetary disk around a small star, also revealed the first detection of ethane outside the solar system. The discovery was made while the Mid-Infrared instrument (MIRI) on the James Webb Space… Read More »
Three is definitely not a crowd for planets around a distant baby star. Astronomers had already discovered two planets forming in the disk, or protoplanetary disk, of gas and dust around the baby star PDS 70. Now, astronomers with the MIRI Mid-Infrared Disc Survey (MINDS) Project using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have seen… Read More »
Scientists have discovered a rare stardust particle resulting from the explosive supernova death of a distant star. This spot appears to be locked inside an ancient meteorite. The dust grain, however small, can help tell the story of the life, death and rebirth of stars that spans almost the entire 13.8 billion-year history of the… Read More »
Astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope to investigate a stellar nursery full of baby stars in the Orion Nebula. The research helped reveal the impact of radiation from massive stars on planet formation. The Orion Nebula is a huge complex of gas and dust that forms the building blocks of new stars. In fact,… Read More »
Astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to paint a picture of burger-shaped, planet-forming material around a young star. Delicious research conducted by the James Webb Space Telescope’s Ice Age team led to the creation of the first detailed 2-D inventory of ice in the so-called proto-planetary disk, the type of structure from which… Read More »
Astronomers have discovered a massive extrasolar planet, or “exoplanet,” orbiting an ultra-cool dwarf star that is too small to host such a world, challenging scientists’ models of how planets and planetary systems are born. The planet in question, called LHS 3154 b, is 13 times larger than itself. SoilIn other words, it has a mass… Read More »