The recent discoveries made by an international team of astronomers using the powerful Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have shed new light on the evolution of protoplanetary disks. These disks, which surround young stars and are comprised of gas and dust particles, play a crucial role in the formation of giant planets.

The ALMA Survey of Gas Evolution of PROtoplanetary Disks (AGE-PRO) observed 30 planet-forming disks around sunlike stars to measure gas disk mass at different ages. This groundbreaking study has revealed that gas and dust components in these disks evolve at different rates, with gas dispersing relatively quickly, then more slowly as the disk ages.

The findings of AGE-PRO have significant implications for our understanding of planetary formation. The team discovered that planet-forming disks blow off more of their gas when they’re young, which would suggest that gaseous planets like Jupiter have less time to form than rocky planets.

The study also used ALMA’s unique sensitivity to detect faint molecular lines in the disks, allowing researchers to identify different species of gas molecules. This first large-scale chemical survey of its kind targeted 30 planet-forming disks in three star-forming regions, ranging from 1 million to 6 million years in age.

The data obtained by AGE-PRO will serve as a comprehensive legacy library of spectral line observations for a large sample of disks at different evolutionary stages. This valuable resource will enable researchers to further study the evolution of protoplanetary disks and gain insights into the formation of giant planets.

In one of the most surprising findings, the team discovered that the mass ratio between gas and dust tends to be more consistent across disks of different masses than expected. This suggests that different-size disks share a similar gas-to-dust mass ratio, which challenges previous literature that suggested smaller disks might shed their gas faster.

The funding for this study was provided by various sources, including the National Science Foundation, the European Research Council, and FONDECYT (Chile). The research paper provides full funding information.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has made another groundbreaking discovery in the field of astronomy, providing precious new insights into how distant exoplanets form and what their atmospheres can look like. The latest findings, published in the leading international journal Nature, reveal the presence of silicate clouds in one of the planet’s atmospheres and a circumplanetary disk thought to feed material that can form moons around the other.

The YSES-1 super-solar system, which consists of two young giant exoplanets orbiting a sun-like star, has been studied using spectroscopic instruments on board the JWST. The main goal of measuring the spectra of these exoplanets was to understand their atmospheres, and the results are nothing short of remarkable.

“We found the tell-tale signature of silicate clouds in the mid-infrared,” said Dr Evert Nasedkin, a Postdoctoral Fellow in Trinity College Dublin’s School of Physics. “Essentially made of sand-like particles, this is the strongest silicate absorption feature observed in an exoplanet yet.”

These silicate clouds are believed to be linked to the relative youth of the planets, and studying them can provide valuable insights into the formation processes of these distant giants. The team also observed a disk around one of the planets, thought to feed material onto the planet and serve as the birthplace of moons – similar to those seen around Jupiter.

“This work highlights the incredible abilities of JWST to characterise exoplanet atmospheres,” said Dr Nasedkin. “With only a handful of exoplanets that can be directly imaged, the YSES-1 system offers unique insights into the atmospheric physics and formation processes of these distant giants.”

In broader terms, understanding how this super-solar system formed offers further insight into the origins of our own solar system, giving us an opportunity to watch as a planet similar to Jupiter forms in real time. The study’s findings can help scientists better understand the chemical makeup at the end of formation and provide hints on how our own planets have changed over time.

“This research was also led by a team of early career researchers such as postdocs and graduate students who make up the first five authors of the paper,” said Dr Kielan Hoch, Giacconi Fellow at the Space Telescope Science Institute. “This work would not have been possible without their creativity and hard work, which is what aided in making these incredible multidisciplinary discoveries.”

An international team of astronomers has made a groundbreaking discovery that could rewrite the textbooks on planetary formation. Led by Dr. Christian Ginski from the University of Galway, the researchers have identified the likely site of a new planet forming around a distant young star. The planet is expected to be a gas giant, potentially up to several times the mass of Jupiter.

Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile, the team captured spectacular images of the disk surrounding the young star. The data revealed an exceptionally structured disk, featuring a bright ring and spiral arms. This configuration is reminiscent of the outskirts of a hurricane on Earth, but on a much larger scale.

The disk extends out to 130 astronomical units from its parent star, which is equivalent to 130 times the distance between Earth and the Sun. For comparison, Neptune, the outermost planet in our solar system, has an orbital distance from the Sun of just 30 astronomical units.

Inside the disk gap, a system of spiral arms are visible, hinting at the presence of a forming planet. While appearing tiny in the image, the inner part of this planet-forming system measures 40 astronomical units in radius and would swallow all of the planets in our own solar system.

Dr. Ginski and his team believe that their discovery could be a crucial step in understanding how planets form in general and how our solar system might have formed in the distant past. The study has been published in the international journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, and the researchers are now working with colleagues around the world to further analyze the data.

One of the most exciting aspects of this discovery is that it was made possible by a large team effort involving graduate students from the University of Galway. Chloe Lawlor, Jake Byrne, Dan McLachlan, and Matthew Murphy were all integral members of the research team and played a crucial role in analyzing the data.

“We’re thrilled to have been part of this exciting project,” said Chloe Lawlor, PhD student in Physics with a specialization in Astrophysics. “It’s an incredible experience to contribute to such groundbreaking work as an early-career researcher.”

Jake Byrne, MSc student in Physics with a specialization in Astrophysics, added: “This research has given us a unique opportunity to work together and make significant contributions to the field of planet formation theory.”

The wider research team included colleagues from the UK, Germany, Australia, USA, Netherlands, Italy, Chile, France, and Japan. They used a range of advanced telescopes and instruments to gather data on the young star and its surrounding disk.

Dr. Ginski’s team has now secured time at the world-leading James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observatory in the upcoming observation cycle. Using the unprecedented sensitivity of JWST, they hope to take an actual image of the young planet, confirming the presence of planets in the disk and providing a prime laboratory for studying planet-disk interaction.

The scientific community is eagerly awaiting further updates on this groundbreaking discovery, as it has significant implications for our understanding of planetary formation and the origins of our own solar system.