In the early days of our solar system, the region of space we call home likely resembled a flattened disk of gas and dust orbiting a younger version of our Sun. These protoplanetary disks are present in the early stages of all planetary systems. Over time, gas accumulates in the star and swirling dust turns into planets. The protoplanetary disk observed by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is the largest ever observed in visible light.
The massive disk is unusually turbulent, with long wisps of dust filaments extending above and below the disk over much greater distances than in any other young star system.
The results were published in Astrophysical Journal.
Read more: Violent space rock collisions cause dusty destruction in a nearby planetary system
Meet “Chivito Dracula”
Researchers have given the protoplanetary disk an unusual name to match its unexpected size and structure. The official name of the disk is IRAS 23077+6707, but it has been nicknamed “Dracula's Chivito” in honor of the Romanian and Uruguayan nationality of two members of the research team who identified the disk (the Chivito sandwich is the national dish of Uruguay). Accordingly, the disc actually resembles a beef sandwich, with glowing “buns” of gas and dust surrounding the “patty” of dark sky.
Hubble discovered a new disk about 1,000 light-years from Earth. The young system is massivespanning nearly 400 billion miles, more than 100 times the average distance from Earth to Pluto. The telescope was unable to observe the young star inside the disk, but astronomers believe it is likely a massive lone star or pair of stars.
“The level of detail we see is rare in images of protoplanetary information, and these new Hubble images show that planetary nurseries may be much more active and chaotic than we expected,” said Christina Monsch, an astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics and co-author of the study, in press release. “We see this disk almost edge-on, and its thin upper layers and asymmetrical features are especially striking.
Both Hubble and NASA James Webb Space Telescope We've seen similar structures in other disks, but IRAS 23077+6707 provides us with an exceptional perspective – allowing us to track its substructures in visible light with an unprecedented level of detail. This makes the system a unique new laboratory for studying planet formation and the environment in which it occurs,” Monsch added.
“A Seat in the Front Row” to the Birth of a New Star System
The high Chivito threads are not the only unusual feature of the disc. The researchers noted that the filaments appear on only one side of the disk, while a dark, sharp border marks the other side of the filament. This unbalanced structure indicates that the formation of the disk is influenced by changing processes, such as strong interaction with the environment or the influx of dust or gas particles.
“We were stunned to see how asymmetrical this disk is,” Joshua Bennett Lovell, Monsch's co-author and also a CfA astronomer, said in a press release. “Hubble has given us a front-row seat to the chaotic processes that shape the disks as new planets are created—processes that we don't yet fully understand but can now study in entirely new ways.”
Researchers hope Chivito will serve as a model example of how planets form. The size of the accretion disks suggests that the system could eventually create several massive gas giants.
“Theoretically, IRAS 23077+6707 could contain an extensive planetary system,” Monsch said. “Although planet formation may differ in such vast environments, the underlying processes are likely similar. We have more questions than answers right now, but these new images are a starting point for understanding how planets form over time and in different environments.”
Read more: NASA's colorful space map may shed light on the first moments after the Big Bang
Article sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed research and high-quality sources for their articles, and our editors review scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
