In the latest scientific discovery, the Hubble Space Telescope is shocking space enthusiasts by revealing an unusual object about 40 times larger than the entire solar system itself.
The latest observations reveal a giant, turbulent planet-forming disk that could change theories about the development of planetary systems.
Astronomers working with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have captured images of the “largest protoplanetary disk” ever seen around a young star.
Observed for the first time in visible light, the disk appears much more turbulent and disorderly than expected, with streams of material extending much higher above and below the disk than in any comparable system.
The surprising fact shows that it is even more unusual; the longest filaments appear on only one side of the disc.
This peculiar, skewed structure suggests that dynamic processes, such as the recent influx of dust and gas, or interactions with the environment, are shaping the disk.
The results, published in The Astrophysical Journal, represent a major achievement for Hubble and provide new insight into how planets can form under extreme conditions, furthering NASA’s broader efforts to explore the universe and our place in it.
A planet-forming disk of unprecedented size:
The object, known as IRAS 23077+6707 and nicknamed “Dracula’s Chivito,” is located about 1,000 light-years from Earth and is nearly 400 billion miles in diameter.
This makes it about 40 times wider than the extent of our solar system out to the Kuiper Belt of icy bodies.
The disk is so large and compact that it blocks the view of the young star at its center, which astronomers think could be a single hot, massive star or a few close stars.
Moreover, its size is already distinctive, but its structure suggests that it may also be one of the strangest planet-forming disks yet identified.
This peculiar skewed structure suggests that dynamic processes, such as the recent influx of dust and gas, or interactions with the environment, are shaping the disk.
“We were stunned to see how asymmetrical this disk is,” said co-researcher Joshua Bennett Lovell, also an astronomer at CfA. “Hubble has given us a front-row seat to the chaotic processes that shape disks as they build new planets – processes that we don’t yet fully understand, but that we can now study in a whole new way.”
The research was shared from “Hubble Reveals Complex Multiscale Structure in the Edge-on Protoplanetary Disk IRAS23077+6707.”
