Young, Small Stars Can Adversely Impact Formation Of New Planets

First Posted: Jun 15, 2016 05:40 AM EDT
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Young stars which have a mass less than the Sun can reportedly emit an avalanche of X-ray radiation that notably shortens the lifespan of nearby disks that go on to form planets. A researching team suggested the occurrence after studying a cluster of nearby stars using information from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory as well as other telescopes.

According to a report by NASA, the scientists studied the TW Hya association (TWA) located around 160 light years from our planet as reference point for the suggested finding. The young stars in HWA have destroyed disks of gas and dust, ingredients needed for the formation of planets, around them. The destructive stars were observed to be only around 8 million years in age, compared to our ancient 4.5-billion years old sun. The researchers studied HWA because young systems like these can throw more light on the origin and early formation of planets, because the birthing process is an ongoing one here due to the relative young age.

The astronomers also saw that there was a difference in mass between our Sun and the young stars, the latter weighing only about one half to one tenth of the solar system's star. The small stars were also noticed to emit less light. Scientists have not been very clear until now about the effect of faint small stars on the nearby planet forming disks of material. However, the latest findings suggest that young stars can pack in quite a punch when it comes to the longevity of their surrounding disks.

The suggested results may also indicate that astronomers have to rethink current ideas and theories about the formation and evolution of planets around young, faint stars. In addition to using data from Chandra X-ray Observatory, the researching team of scientists also depended on information collected from NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), European Space Agency's XMM-Newton observatory and Roentgen SATellite (ROSAT) to put forward their theory, which incidentally is published in The Astronomical Journal.

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