PDS 70: Disk, Planets, and Moons
Explanation:
It's not the big disk that's attracting the most attention.
Although the big planet-forming disk around the star
PDS 70
is clearly imaged and itself quite interesting.
It's also not the planet on the right, just inside the
big disk, thatБs being talked about the most.
Although the planet
PDS 70c
is a newly formed and, interestingly, similar in size and mass to
Jupiter.
It's the fuzzy patch around the
planet PDS 70c that's
causing
the commotion.
That fuzzy patch is thought to be itself a
dusty disk that is now forming into moons --
and that has never been seen before.
The featured image was taken by the
Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) of 66
radio telescopes in the high
Atacama Desert of northern
Chile.
Based on ALMA data,
astronomers infer that the moon-forming
exoplanetary disk has a radius similar to our Earth's orbit,
and may one day form three or so
Luna-sized moons --
not very different from our
Jupiter's
four.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
