Newborn planet pictured for first time
Astronomers have captured this image of a planet that's still forming in the disk of gas and dust around its star.
Researchers have long been on the hunt for a baby planet, and this is the first confirmed discovery of its kind.
Young dwarf star PDS 70 is less than 10 million years old, and its planetary companion is thought to be between five and six million years old.
Known as PDS 70b, it appears to be several times the size of Jupiter and probably has a cloudy atmosphere.
Researchers led by a team at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Astronomy found that the planet orbits about as far from its star as Uranus does from the Sun.
Each journey around the dwarf star takes about 118 years.
Surface temperatures are thought to exceed 1,000C; far greater than those on any planet in our Solar System.
The star's light was blocked with a tool called a coronagraph, which allowed astronomers to see the much fainter planet.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-44661979
Astronomers have captured this image of a planet that's still forming in the disk of gas and dust around its star.
Researchers have long been on the hunt for a baby planet, and this is the first confirmed discovery of its kind.
Young dwarf star PDS 70 is less than 10 million years old, and its planetary companion is thought to be between five and six million years old.
Known as PDS 70b, it appears to be several times the size of Jupiter and probably has a cloudy atmosphere.
Researchers led by a team at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Astronomy found that the planet orbits about as far from its star as Uranus does from the Sun.
Each journey around the dwarf star takes about 118 years.
Surface temperatures are thought to exceed 1,000C; far greater than those on any planet in our Solar System.
The star's light was blocked with a tool called a coronagraph, which allowed astronomers to see the much fainter planet.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-44661979
The meek shall inherit the Earth, the rest of us will fly to the stars.
Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups
Arguing with an engineer is like wrestling with a pig in mud ..... after a while you realise that the pig likes it!
Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups
Arguing with an engineer is like wrestling with a pig in mud ..... after a while you realise that the pig likes it!
