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Protoplanetary LifeExisting with-in a dark region of space, darker then the normal blackness, a future star and planetary system is being born. The region is dark because it is in a dark cloud of gas that produces no light of its’ own . . . until gravitational collapse, forming a protostar, embedded in an 8,000 A.U. enveloping disk of rocks, dust and gas. As time passes and the dust settles a clear disk evolves around the new star. As time passes and the dust aggregates into rocks and the rocks in asteroids, planets form, giving the galaxy a new main sequence star with a planetary system. Astronomers have made great strides in the last few years determining how solar systems evolve with improved tools such as the Hubble Space Telescope. By observing Protoplanetary disks they have been able to discern new planets in the processes of creation. With the help of the Hubble Space Telescope astronomers, [H]ave discovered new evidence for planets circling the star HD 141569. Infra-red images have revealed a dark gap dividing an immense disk of dusty material surrounding the young star. (Phillips 1) This gap is caused, by the planet “carving out” a space in the dust, and using the materials to become a planet. These astronomers point out that, "The most obvious way to form a gap in a disk is with a planet."(Phillips 1) Other astronomers have found other evidence of the same thing happening around other stars. This is what Michael Werner who worked on the Keck II telescope wrote recently. With HR 4796, we're seeing a picture of a young adult star starting its own family of planets. This may be what our solar system looked like at the end of its main planetary formation phase. (WSWS 1) Clearly astronomers as well as the rest of the world have gained much from this knowledge. From detailed knowledge of how Protoplanetary systems are formed from dark gas clouds to how later they begin to form planetary systems much like our own. What will they find next, Life? Sources Phillips, Tony; Evidence mounts for extra-solar planets, http://science.nasa.gov/current/event/ast11jan99_1.htm World Socialist Web Site; 1998-2004 The first evidence of new Earth-like planets, http://www.wsws.org/science/1998/may1998/plan-m5.shtmlBACK TO ASTRONOMY HOME |