Webb Telescope’s Artistic Illustrations of Protoplanetary Disks: NASA’s Groundbreaking Discovery

2023-11-21 03:49:46
Artistic illustrations of two types of “protoplanetary disks” observed by the Webb telescope. The left picture is a compact protoplanetary disk, and the right picture is a dispersed protoplanetary disk. (NASA, ESA, CSA, JOSEPH OLMSTED STSCI)[The Epoch Times, November 21, 2023](Compiled and reported by Epoch Times reporter Linda) NASA scientists may have just passed the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Discovered how planets form. The discovery was published Nov. 8 in Astrophysical Journal Letters. The research was done by looking at water vapor in a “protoplanetary disk,” a rotating pattern of gas and dust following new stars form. Detailing the discovery in a Nov. 8 press release from NASA, observations from the Webb telescope showed that cryogenic pebbles in the outer region of the disk drift toward newly formed stars within, driven by friction and gas. . As these icy pebbles drift towards warmer areas (called the snowline), water vapor is released. This physical process gradually transports water and solids to the surrounding planet. This process has been theorized before, but now the Webb telescope has documented it for the first time as it happens. Colette Salyk of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, a member of the research project team, told the media: “In the past, we thought that planets formed in an isolated area. Static state. Now the evidence shows that these regions can interact. This is also true in the solar system.” Andrea Banzatti, lead researcher at Texas State University, San Marcos, added: “Webb finally revealed that in the inner disk of water vapor and the drift of frozen pebbles in the outer disk. This discovery opens up exciting prospects for studying the formation of rocky planets!” To make these findings, astronomers used the mid-infrared instrument on the Webb telescope to observe Four disks surrounding two stars, including “two compact and two diffuse.” These stars are between 2 and 3 million years old – very young compared to the age of the universe. The study found that compact protoplanetary disks released more water than dispersed disks due to more efficient pebble drift. NASA said the icy pebbles were brought to a distance equivalent to the orbit of Neptune. In short, compact protoplanetary disks are more efficient at distributing the elements needed for planet formation than dispersed protoplanetary disks. When these discoveries were first recorded, astronomers were baffled. “For two months we have been stuck on these preliminary results, which tell us that water in compact protoplanetary disks is generally cooler, while water in diffuse protoplanetary disks is generally hotter,” Banzati said. And that doesn’t make sense because we’re using a sample of stars with very similar temperatures.” A closer look at the data reveals why. Compact protoplanetary disks have additional cold water within the snow line. “Now we can finally clearly see that there is excess water in the cold water. This is unprecedented and all thanks to the higher resolving power of the Webb telescope!” Basically, cold water is more effective in the formation of rocky planets, Banzati said. ◇#Editor in charge: Ye Ziwei
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