... It is essential in understanding the process of star and planet formation, both in our own Milky Way Galaxy and in other galaxies throughout the universe. ...
... SIGNS OF EXTRASOLAR PLANETARY SYSTEM Astronomers have found what they believe is a "missing link" for understanding the formation of planets around stars. ...
... The Hubble images of this disk offer further evidence that planet formation should be possible in binary star systems," said astronomer Karl Staplefeldt of JPL. ...
... The matter expelled in the supernova process is further being used, it is the "raw material" for formation of the next generation of stars and planets. ...
... parts: what we know about the origins of life and evolution on Earth; a look at planets and moons in our own solar system for life potential; and the formation of planets around other stars and assessing their potential for microbial or intelligent life ...
... May Be Common A recent slew of discoveries of dust disks around stars -- long thought to be raw materials from which planets form -- indicates that these disks may be commonplace around young stars and are directly linked to the formation of planets ...
... Sally Heap reported at this month's American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington that a warped portion of the circumstellar disk around the star seen in new Hubble Space Telescope images may be one or more planets in the early stages of formation. ...