For the first time, a group of astronomers from Rice University simultaneously discovered three spatial gas rings surrounding the young star HD 163296, located almost 400 light years from us. The rings themselves are free space inside the protoplanetary disk, separated by cosmic dust particles. Their presence indicates that the process of planetary formation has begun. True, despite the fact that the two outer rings clearly indicate the formation of new planets, the third, inner ring, remains a mystery to scientists.
In contrast to the two outer ones, in the inner ring there is a significantly increased concentration of three isotopes of carbon monoxide, which may indicate that in fact there is no planet there. However, what exactly makes this ring more discharged remains unclear.
“We do not yet understand what creates this inner, dust-free space. Whatever creates this structure, it attracts dust particles, but there is still a lot of gas,”says astronomer Andrea Isella.
Artistic representation of the protoplanetary disk around the star HD 163296
“As a percentage, the material that forms the disc is divided as follows: 1 percent is cosmic dust, the remaining 99 is gas,” continues Isella.
“Therefore, if you see dust, then it is probably difficult to determine whether the ring is a consequence of the formation of a planet. You need to see what's going on with the gas. And in this study, we were able to observe both gas and dust for the first time."
So what is causing the void to form if not the planet? Although there are several theories that might answer this question, the researchers decided to gain access to the Atacama Millimeter-Wave Large Array (ALMA) in Chile to continue their observation, the results of which were recently published in Physical Review Letters. … Fortunately, the ALMA observatory has also expressed great interest in the study of protoplanetary systems. After all, new knowledge will help to better understand how planets like our Earth are formed.
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“This means that our topic is considered one of the highest priorities by the astronomical community,” says Isella.
The next step for scientists will be to study the chemical composition of the disk and rings, as well as compare the data from this analysis with data from studies of 20 other stars for comparison. Scientists plan to submit the results of this work by September next year.
Tools like ALMA or, for example, the upcoming modern James Webb Space Telescope, will help us better understand our universe. Understanding how it came into being and how it was formed is precisely the key task of today's astronomy.
NIKOLAY KHIZHNYAK