How a giant telescope found a planet-forming disk with iron rings

• Scientists used a giant telescope to see three rings of dust in the disk around a young star, where rocky planets like Earth may form.
• The dust in the rings contains iron and silicates, similar to the materials in the Solar System’s terrestrial planets. This is the first time iron has been detected in a planet-forming disk.
• The rings suggest that two Jupiter-sized planets are forming in the gaps between them. This is a rare and complex structure in the inner region of a disk.

Do you ever wonder how Earth and the other planets in our solar system came to be? Well, you’re not alone. Scientists are also curious about the history of our cosmic neighborhood. They think that a long time ago, like 4.5 billion years ago, there was a big cloud of dust and gas around a baby sun. And from that cloud, the planets were born.

But how do we know that? Well, we can look at other stars that are much younger than our sun and see what’s going on around them. Some of them have disks of dust and gas, just like our sun did when it was young. And by studying those disks, we can learn more about how planets form and what they are made of.

The discovery of the iron rings

That’s what a team of scientists did with a huge telescope called the VLTI. They looked at a star called HD 144432, which is about 500 light-years away from us. And they saw something amazing: three rings of dust in the disk around the star. And those rings are in the same place where the rocky planets like Earth and Mars are in our solar system. Isn’t that cool?

The scientists think that those rings mean that there are two planets forming in the gaps between them. And those planets are probably big, like Jupiter. This is the first time that anyone has seen such a thing so close to a star. Usually, the rings are farther away, like where Saturn is in our solar system. But this star has them right next to it.

And you know what else is interesting? The dust in those rings is very similar to the stuff that makes up Earth and the other rocky planets. It has things like silicates, which are minerals that contain silicon and oxygen, and iron, which is a metal that is in the core of Earth and Mercury. The scientists even think that they found iron in the disk for the first time ever.

They say that iron and silicates make more sense than carbon for the dust near the star, because it’s very hot there. Like, hotter than an oven. The dust can melt and form crystals when it cools down. But carbon would just burn up and turn into gas. Carbon might still be in the dust farther away from the star, where it’s cooler, but the scientists couldn’t see that with their telescope.

The technique of interferometry

So, how did they see all this? Well, they used a very cool technique called interferometry. They combined four big telescopes into one giant telescope. It’s like having a telescope as big as a football field. And with that, they could see very small details in the disk. They also used different kinds of light, like infrared, to see different things in the dust.

They used two special instruments that were made by MPIA, a research institute in Germany. One of them is called MATISSE, and its job is to look at the places where rocky planets form. The scientists want to know what kind of minerals are in the dust, because those minerals will become the rocks and metals of the planets. The other one is called GRAVITY, and it helps to make very sharp images with the interferometer.

But making images with the interferometer is not easy. It takes a lot of time and effort. So, the scientists have to be smart and use models to compare with the data. They found that the best model for the disk around HD 144432 is one with three rings of dust.

The implications for planet formation

And you know what? This star is not the only one with a ringed disk. The scientists have seen other stars like that, too. And they want to study them more with the interferometer. They hope to find out if iron-rich disks are common or not. And maybe they will learn more about how planets like Earth are made.

So, the dust in the disk around HD 144432 is very similar to the dust in our solar system. Mercury and Earth have a lot of iron in them, but not much carbon. The scientists think that this star is like a twin of our sun when it was young. It gave a lot of iron to the planets that are forming around it. And maybe that’s not so rare. Maybe our solar system is not so special after all.

But how did they see all this? Well, they used a very cool technique called interferometry. They combined four big telescopes into one giant telescope. It’s like having a telescope as big as a football field. And with that, they could see very small details in the disk. They also used different kinds of light, like infrared, to see different things in the dust.

They used two special instruments that were made by MPIA, a research institute in Germany. One of them is called MATISSE, and its job is to look at the places where rocky planets form. The scientists want to know what kind of minerals are in the dust, because those minerals will become the rocks and metals of the planets. The other one is called GRAVITY, and it helps to make very sharp images with the interferometer.

But making images with the interferometer is not easy. It takes a lot of time and effort. So, the scientists have to be smart and use models to compare with the data. They found that the best model for the disk around HD 144432 is one with three rings of dust.

And you know what? This star is not the only one with a ringed disk. The scientists have seen other stars like that, too. And they want to study them more with the interferometer. They hope to find out if iron-rich disks are common or not. And maybe they will learn more about how planets like Earth are made.

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