Konkoly Observatory | Hungarian Academy of Sciences | 2017 Jul 03
[c][attachment=0]V346_Nor.jpg[/attachment][/c][hr][/hr]Every year, about two Earth masses of material flows to the disk of the young star V346 Nor from its surroundings, to eventually end up on the star causing a brightening. The hard-to-see phenomenon was captured by a Hungarian-led research group using ALMA, the largest astronomical telescope on Earth. The observation helps in the understanding of a key phenomenon: how circumstellar disks evolve and ultimately form planets.
New planets may be born in the universe every second. Among the many new celestial bodies, the most interesting ones are those similar to our Earth, especially if they have the possibility to harbor life. Until a few decades ago, only estimates and model predictions were available to outline where and how habitable planets or planets unfavorable to harbor life are born. Nowadays, thanks to the largest telescopes, the situation is different: we can glimpse into the details of star and planet formation and we know more and more about the circumstances of their birth.
Important advances have been made in this field by a team coordinated by Hungarian researchers: the latest issue of the Astrophysical Journal published an article by Ágnes Kóspál and collaborators, in which they study a young star called V346 Nor and its environment. V346 Nor is only a few hundred thousand year old protostar, whose mass is 0.1 solar mass, but it is still growing. It is possible that planets are currently forming around it. It is an ideal target for analyzing what factors determine the properties of the forming planets and their surroundings. For this, it is important to know what is the composition, temperature, grain size of the disk where the planets are growing. ...
Mass Transport from the Envelope to the Disk of V346 Nor: A Case Study
for the Luminosity Problem in an FUor-type Young Eruptive Star - Á. Kóspál et al
- Astrophysical Journal 843(1):45 (2017 Jul 01) DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aa7683