A new study is offering a clearer picture of how planets are born alongside stars, with the lead researcher from British Columbia calling the findings an exciting step toward understanding the formation of planets and their atmospheres.
University of Victoria doctoral candidate Dori Blakely says researchers have known that planets form by pulling in mass from gas and dust from their surroundings, a process known as accretion.
But the study Blakely led used the James Webb Space Telescope to zoom in on that phenomenon and a young star known as PDS 70, with two young planets developing around it.
He says the study published in the peer-reviewed Astronomical Journal found convincing evidence of a disk of “warm dust” around the planets.
Blakely says the finding offers insights into the formation of planets roughly similar to Jupiter, along with their atmospheres, and potentially the formation of their moons.
He says the …