press release
July 25, 2023
The European Southern Observatory today released a stunning new image that sheds light on how massive planets like Jupiter might form. Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), researchers have discovered large clumps of dust near a young star that could collapse and form giant planets.
“This discovery is truly exciting because it is the first detection of clumps of matter around a young star that have the potential to host giant planets.explains Alice Zurlo, a researcher at Diego Portales University in Chile who participated in the observations.
The work is based on a fascinating image obtained with the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch instrument (SPHERE) on ALV taken by ESO and fascinating details of the matter around the star V960 Mon. watch. This young star is located more than 5,000 light-years away Unicorn constellation and caught the attention of astronomers when its brightness suddenly increased more than 20-fold in 2014. SPHERE observations shortly after the burst of brightness began showed the material orbiting V960 Mon clustering into a series of intertwined spiral arms that extend to distances greater than the entire solar system.
This discovery motivated astronomers to evaluate archival observations of the same system. ALMA have been carried out in which ESO is involved as a partner. The VLT observations probe the surface of the dusty material around the star, while ALMA studies its structure more deeply.ALMA revealed that the spiral arms break apart, leading to the formation of clusters with planet-like masses.said Zurlo.
Astronomers suspect that giant planets form either through something called “core accretion,” when dust grains clump together, or through “gravitational instability,” when large chunks of material around a star contract and collapse. While researchers have already found evidence for the first of these two scenarios, there is little evidence for the second.
“No one has ever seen a true observation of gravitational instability on a planetary scale – until now” says Philipp Weber, a researcher at the University of Santiago in Chile, currently in Letters from the Astrophysical Journal study published.
“Our group has been searching for signs of planet formation for over a decade, and we couldn’t be more excited about this incredible discovery.says Sebastián Pérez of the University of Santiago, Chile.
ESO’s instruments will help astronomers reveal more details about this fascinating planetary system, with the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), ESO will play a key role. The ELT, currently under construction in the Atacama Desert in Chile, will be able to observe the system in greater detail than ever before and collect crucial information about it.The ELT opens the way to exploring the chemical diversity surrounding these clusters and helps us learn more about the composition of the material from which potential planets form.” concludes Weber.
More information
The team behind this work is made up of young researchers from various Chilean universities and institutes that are part of the Millennium Nucleus on Young Exoplanets and their Moons (YEMS) research center. It is funded by the Chilean National Agency for Research and Development (ANID) and its Millennium Science Initiative program. The two systems used, ALMA and VLT, are located in the Chilean Atacama Desert.
The research results are presented in an article published in the journal Letters from the Astrophysical Journal appears (doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ace186).
The team is composed of P. Weber (Departamento de Física, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile (USACH); Millennium Nucleus on Young Exoplanets and Their Moons, Chile (YEMS); Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Astrophysics and Space Exploration, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile (CIRAS)), S. Pérez (USACH; YEMS; CIRAS), A. Zurlo (YEMS; Núcleo de Astronomía, Universidad Diego Portales Chile (UDP); Escuela de Ingeniería Industrial, Universidad Diego Portales, Chile ), J. Miley (ALMA Joint Observatory, Chile; National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Chile), A. Hales (National Radio Astronomy Observatory, USA), L. Cieza (YEMS; UDP), D. Principe (Kavli Institute of Astrophysics and Space Research, USA), M. Cárcamo (YEMS; CIRAS; USACH, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Computer Engineering, Chile), A. Garufi (INAF, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Italy), Á. Kóspál (Konkoly Observatory, Astronomy and Earth Sciences Research Centre, Eötvös Loránd Research Network (ELKH), Hungary; CSFK, MTA Centre of Excellence, Hungary; ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Institute of Physics, Hungary; Max Institute Planck Astronomy, Germany), M. Takami (Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, ROC), J. Kastner (School of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA) , Z. Zhu (Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nevada, USA; Nevada Center for Astrophysics, University of Nevada, USA) and J. Williams (Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii in Manoa, United States).
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an international astronomical facility jointly managed by ESO, the National Science Foundation (NSF) of the United States and the National Institutes of Natural Sciences of Japan (NINS), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA is supported by ESO on behalf of its Member Countries, by NSF in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) and NINS in cooperation with the Academia Sinica (AS) in Taiwan and the Korea Institute of Astronomy and Space Science (KASI). In terms of development, construction and operation, ESO leads the European contribution, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), which is in turn operated by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), the North American contribution, and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) for the East Asian contribution. The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) is responsible for the overall project management for ALMA construction, commissioning and observation operations.
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) enables scientists from around the world to unlock the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all. We design, build and operate world-class observatories that astronomers use to answer exciting questions and inspire fascination with astronomy, and we promote international collaboration in astronomy. Founded in 1962 as an intergovernmental organisation, ESO is led by 16 Member States (Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, France, Finland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the Host Country Chile and Australia as strategic partners. ESO Headquarters and its Visitor Centre and Planetarium, ESO Supernova, are located near Munich in Germany, while the Atacama Desert in Chile, a wonderland offering unique conditions for observing the skies, is home to our telescopes. ESO operates three observing sites: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At the Paranal site, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its associated Very Large Telescope Interferometer as well as survey telescopes such as VUE. Also at Paranal, ESO will operate the Cherenkov Telescope Array South, the world’s largest and most sensitive gamma-ray observatory. In collaboration with international partners, ESO operates APEX and ALMA, two millimetre and submillimetre observing facilities on Chajnantor. On Cerro Armazones, near Paranal, we are building “the world’s largest eye in the sky”: ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope. From our offices in Santiago, Chile, we support our activities in the country and collaborate with Chilean partners and society.
The translations of ESO press releases into English are a service of the ESO Science Outreach Network (ESON), an international astronomy outreach network in which scientists and science communicators from all ESO Member Countries (and some other countries) are represented. It is the German node of the network. House of Astronomy in Heidelberg.
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Contact details
Philippe Weber
University of Santiago
Santiago, Chile
Mobile: +56966821513 / +4915759366702
E-mail: philipppweber@gmail.com
Alice Zurlo
University of Diego Portales
Santiago, Chile
Tel: +56 22138153
E-mail: alice.zurlo@mail.udp.cl
Sebastian Perez
University of Santiago
Santiago, Chile
Mobile: +56 9 78776812
E-mail: sebastian.perez.ma@usach.cl
Barbara Ferreira
ESO Media Manager
Garching near Munich, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 667
Mobile: +49 151 241 664 00
E-mail: press@eso.org
Markus Nielbock (press contact Germany)
ESO Science Outreach Network and House of Astronomy
Heidelberg, Germany
Tel: +49 6221 528-134
E-mail: eson-germany@eso.org
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This is a translation of ESO press release eso2312.