Astronomers have discovered what they believe is the biggest known batch of planet-making ingredients in the cosmos.
This composite radio and optical image provided by researchers in May 2024 shows IRAS 23077, center, a planet-forming disk, and several surrounding stars. The star at the center of IRAS 23077 is not visible because its light is blocked by its surrounding disk, which is viewed from the side. The diameter of this colossal disk is roughly 3,300 times the distance between Earth and the sun, with enough gas and dust to form super-sized planets in far-flung orbits, the U.S.
It’s so massive and rich in dust and gas, the building blocks of planets, that scientists can learn more about “the birth and evolution of worlds beyond our own,” said lead author Kristina Monsch of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Findings were described in Monday’s Astrophysical Journal Letters. Another paper by some of the same researchers also has been accepted for publication.
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