Right. Good point.Aur is not powered by core hydrogen fusion like the Sun, but by releasing gravitational energy as this immature star keeps shrinking until its interior gets hot enough to start its core hydrogen fusion
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Here another good picture:
"Astronomers have only rarely managed to observe a developing planet. This is because the planetary embryos are usually hidden in dense disks of dust and gas. Sometimes only a gap or turbulence in this protoplanetary disk reveals their existence. There were also initial indications of such a planetary embryo in the star AB Aurigae, around 520 light years away from us in the constellation Aurigae.
Spiral and kink as evidence
Now this suspicion has been confirmed - and this image is the proof. It was created by the SPHERE instrument on the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile. It shows the disk of matter around AB Aurigae in high resolution and in polarized light, revealing its internal structure. It can be seen that dust and gas form a spiral structure. According to models, such spirals are created by the disruptive influence of forming planets.
But there is a second, even clearer indication: In the inner area of this spiral you can see a bright, yellow gas arm that appears to be noticeably bent. This kink could mark the place where the new planet is growing, as the astronomers led by Anthony Boccaletti from the Sorbonne University in Paris report. The planetary embryo orbits AB Aurigae at a distance that is roughly the same as the distance from the sun to Neptune. (Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2020; doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202038008)"
Source: ESO
Statistics: Posted by AVAO — Tue Oct 01, 2024 4:32 am — Replies 4 — Views 1124