Planets form in disks of dust and gas called protoplanetary disks that whirl around a central protostar during its final assembly.
Although several dozens of such disks have been imaged, just two planets have been caught in the act of forming so far. Now, astronomers are aiming the powerful instruments aboard the James Webb Space Telescope at protoplanetary disks to try to find early clues about the ways in which planets form, and how these planets influence their natal disk.
"The problem is, whatever we're trying to detect is hundreds of thousands, if not millions of times fainter than the star," Cugno said."That's like trying to detect a little light bulb next to a lighthouse." HL Tau's disk is known for having several solar-system scale rings and gaps which could harbor planets.
While no new planets were detected in the disk during the most recent observations, the sensitivity is groundbreaking, the researchers say, as it allows them to place the most stringent constraints yet on the suspected planets. For one, the results rule out the existence of additional planets in the outer regions of the MWC 758, consistent with a single giant planet driving the spiral arms.
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