Astronomers reported yesterday that they have detected evidence of two enormous solar systems—giant stars surrounded by large dust disks involved in planet formation.
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This illustration compares the size of a giant star and its surrounding dust disk to our Solar System. (Image: NASA) |
The dust clouds encircling these stars are believed to be indicators of future planetary system formation.
Our Sun is surrounded by the Kuiper Belt, a disk composed of dust, comets, and other objects.
Astronomers noted that this latest discovery is “surprising” because such large stars were thought not to participate in the formation of planetary systems.
“Our data suggests that the process of planet formation might be more challenging than previously thought, occurring even around the largest stars,” said Joel Kastner from the Rochester Institute of Technology.
These newly discovered stars are believed to be 30 to 70 times larger than the Sun. Due to their size, scientists theorize that the surrounding dust disks may also be larger than the Kuiper Belt, potentially up to ten times bigger.
The new stars were identified using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope during a survey of 60 bright stars.
Last November, another group of scientists also discovered what they believe to be a miniature solar system. This team found a dust cloud surrounding a brown dwarf star—a type of star that is fading, larger than a planet but smaller than a typical star.
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