Spitzer sees protoplanetary disk around dead star
Posted: Thu, Apr 6, 2006, 8:31 AM ET (1231 GMT)
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected potential evidence of planets forming around a supernova remnant, which may indicate that planet formation processes are "universal". In a paper published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, astronomers reported the discovery of a dust disk around the pulsar 4U 0142+61. The pulsar was formed by a supernova explosion of a star 10-20 times the mass of the Sun. While that explosion destroyed any planets that once orbited it, debris from the explosion appears to have fallen back into a disk that has formed around the star. While Spitzer did not directly detect any planets forming in the disk, planets have been previously discovered around other pulsars, most likely forming after the supernovae that created the pulsars.
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected potential evidence of planets forming around a supernova remnant, which may indicate that planet formation processes are "universal". In a paper published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, astronomers reported the discovery of a dust disk around the pulsar 4U 0142+61. The pulsar was formed by a supernova explosion of a star 10-20 times the mass of the Sun. While that explosion destroyed any planets that once orbited it, debris from the explosion appears to have fallen back into a disk that has formed around the star. While Spitzer did not directly detect any planets forming in the disk, planets have been previously discovered around other pulsars, most likely forming after the supernovae that created the pulsars.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Friday, March 13
Firefly Aerospace to Announce Fourth Quarter 2025 Financial Results on March 19, 2026
GlobeNewswire — 5:35 am ET (0935 GMT) ESA’s HydroGNSS on track to scout for water
ESA — 5:34 am ET (0934 GMT) FCC chair slams Amazon for slow satellite launches after it opposed SpaceX data center plan
CNBC — 5:34 am ET (0934 GMT) Falcon 9 launch of Starlink satellites scheduled from Vandenberg SFB early Friday morning
KEYT-TV Santa Barbara, CA — 5:33 am ET (0933 GMT) Better Signal: 1,600 Starlink Satellites Move Into Lower Orbits
PC Magazine — 5:33 am ET (0933 GMT) |
