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Ned Potter is the science correspondent for ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson." He has reported on such topics as space exploration, the human genome and climate change.
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A Planet is Born
April 02, 2008 8:38 AM
There's a beautiful image today from the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, Scotland, and we hope you'll like it.
It is a computer-generated simulation of a young star, say astronomers, with a vast disc of rock and dust around it gradually forming a new planet -- the bright dot in the upper right. Dr. Jane Greaves of the University of St. Andrews is reporting on it today at an astronomy meeting in Belfast. She and colleagues observed it with radio telescopes in the U.S. and Britain.
The star is called HL Tau, in the constellation Taurus the Bull, and it is believed to be only about 100,000 years old -- a baby in astronomical terms. (The Sun is 4.6 billion years old.) It's about 520 light years away from us. According to the team studying it, it's the youngest planet ever seen taking shape.
"We see a distinct orbiting ball of gas and dust, which is exactly how a very young protoplanet should look," says Greaves in a statement. "The protoplanet is about 14 times as massive as Jupiter and is about twice as far from HL Tau as Neptune is from our Sun."
Click HERE for more from the Royal Observatory, including the raw observations on which the simulation was based, and (at the bottom of the page) an animated version of the simulation -- a view, in other words, of a solar system in the making.
April 2, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (14)
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God's handiwork, in my sign. (No offense intended toward strict evolutionists.)
Posted by: jnnttlc | Apr 2, 2008 8:48:37 AM
when will people realize that god and science are different...god had just as much to do with that as santa clause has with getting you your presents
Posted by: GODISNOTREAL | Apr 2, 2008 9:44:58 AM
The rendering looks like a fairly talented artist painted an interesting abstract. I'd hang it on my wall, but not where the sun can shine on it. The colors are almost blinding.
Posted by: Andy | Apr 2, 2008 10:07:00 AM
You can believe what you want to, and I can believe what I want to. I believe God is real. Enjoy your day without God and please don't harass me.
Posted by: jnnttlc | Apr 2, 2008 10:36:39 AM
I agree. How about we leave God out of this one?
That is awesome Ned. Such a nice story following the doom and gloom from the last two. This one's almost as good as puppies!
Posted by: Lawrence | Apr 2, 2008 10:43:27 AM
What a beautiful image. Thank you, Ned, for bringing it to us. I would not have known about this otherwise.
Posted by: Nora | Apr 2, 2008 12:25:15 PM
That is beautiful! God Is Good!
Posted by: tanilan | Apr 2, 2008 12:33:22 PM
God doesn't have to be excluded just because people don't believe.
People have the right to believe in god publicly if they'd like, Just like atheists have the right to do the opposite and not be burned at the stake.
Posted by: David | Apr 2, 2008 4:14:53 PM
I know God shouldn't be excluded. But it only leads to fighting, especially within scientific blogs. Sure, there are quite alot of people who can mix God and science well, I do and have no problem with it. But there are more who can't, or just won't. That's why I suggested leaving God and religion out ot this one. Not that I think God or religion has no place in the public's eye, just not in government and government funded activities.
Posted by: Lawrence | Apr 2, 2008 5:01:27 PM
Truly an extra-ordinary image. Question though.
In this Solar System we have 9 planets (yes, I still think of Pluto as a planet!) but we only seem to have found systems with one planet. In the images above we see one planet and it is considered a gas giant. I guess that all planets that young are probably giants because they haven't finished condensing or contracting. So, the question is; "Do planets form at different times in different places in the cloud?"
If so, why can we see only one, if not then how unique is our Solar System?
Posted by: Andy Clark | Apr 2, 2008 6:03:16 PM
Looking at the raw image again it looks as if there could be several other bodies forming too. There seems to be a distorted mass around the star and several larger masses towards the edge of the system.
Wish I could live long enough to see what happens!
Posted by: Andy Clark | Apr 2, 2008 6:16:00 PM
God has nothing to do with this. It's basic physics at work. The reason we haven't found more than one or two planets in the other systems is that spotting earth like planets is extremely difficult because of their small (relatively) size and the glare of their sun. The next generation of observational equipment will be sensitive enough to see them.
Posted by: Robert | Apr 2, 2008 6:57:47 PM
Not much difference between the meteorologists guesses known as weather forecasts and the guesses put forth by scientists as to the what when where how and why of anything viewed through a telescope.
Posted by: nativewooder | Apr 2, 2008 7:20:06 PM
None of this is true about the black whole that will suck us up, If God wanted this to happen, he would have put it in the Bible. Also God would not have this happen because he has planned how the earth will end and that is not in his plans! Thank you for reading also to all the scientest's start reading the Bible!
Posted by: Kelsey Henerson | Sep 16, 2008 8:25:52 PM
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