They observe the birth of a planet

2020/05/20 Agirre Ruiz de Arkaute, Aitziber - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronomia
• Astrofisika

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has analyzed in recent years the indications of an emerging stellar system in the constellation of Auriga. The new stellar system is being created around the young star called AB aurigae, 520 light-years from Earth. The magazine Astronomy & Astrophysics has published that in the compact disc of dust and gas around the star have seen a small disturbance, like a twist, in an area of the spiral. Researchers believe that we may be creating a planet in that place. The first evidence of a newborn planet would be correct if confirmed.

Astronomers believe that the planets occur in the first million years of the new stellar systems, when cold gas and dust join their discs. According to different theoretical models, it would have to be seen a rotation in the zone of formation of a planet: it is seen a kind of point of union of two spirals in which a spiral is wound inside the orbit of the planet and the other out. So far they have not been able to capture a sufficiently clear and deep image of these young discs, but using the SPHERE imaging system of the Atakama VLT telescope, they have made high-contrast images near the infrared with polarized and unpolarized light. They have obtained the deepest images of the history of the album, which have served to study its morphology and see the sign that a protoplanet is being formed.