Astronomers capture image of planet forming
OCT 20, 2011
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.025654
ABC News : Astronomers using the W. M. Keck Observatory’s telescopes on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea have taken the first direct image of a planet being formed, writes Audrey McAvoy for the Associated Press. Until now young planets had been difficult to detect because the stars they orbit are so bright. Adam Kraus of the University of Hawaii and Michael Ireland of Australia’s Macquarie University overcame that obstacle by altering the shape of the telescope’s mirror and masking most of its surface. According to Kraus and Ireland, the planet is being formed from dust and gas circling a 2-million-year-old star, about 450 light-years from Earth. Their observations should help further the study of planetary science by determining when and where planets form in relation to the stars they orbit.
© 2011 American Institute of Physics
