Artist’s impression of the disc of dust and gas around a brown dwarf

This artist’s impression shows the disc of gas and cosmic dust around a brown dwarf.

Rocky planets are thought to form through the random collision and sticking together of what are initially microscopic particles in the disc of material around a star. These tiny grains, known as cosmic dust, are similar to very fine soot or sand. Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have for the first time found that the outer region of a dusty disc encircling a brown dwarf — a star-like object, but one too small to shine brightly like a star — also contains millimetre-sized solid grains like those found in denser discs around newborn stars. The surprising finding challenges theories of how rocky, Earth-scale planets form, and suggests that rocky planets may be even more common in the Universe than expected.

Źródło:

ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/M. Kornmesser (ESO)

O zdjęciu

Identyfikator:eso1248a
Typ:Wizja artysty
Data publikacji:30 listopada 2012 12:00
Powiązane komunikaty:eso1248
Rozmiar:4000 x 2475 px

O obiekcie

Nazwa:ISO-Oph 102
Typ:Milky Way : Star : Type : Brown Dwarf
Odległość:400 lat świetlnych
Kategoria:Illustrations
Stars

Formaty zdjęć

Wielki JPEG
720,4 KB
JPEG do druku
720,4 KB

Powiększenie


Tapety

1024x768
86,1 KB
1280x1024
124,8 KB
1600x1200
168,1 KB
1920x1200
191,6 KB
2048x1536
260,1 KB