Photo of the day: on the wings of a protoplanetary disk
The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has presented a young star’s unique image in the constellation Auriga. The released image was taken using the SPHERE receiver on the Very Large Telescope (VLT).
The image shows the luminary SU Aur. This star is located about 500 light-years from us, and its age is estimated at 4 million years. The luminary is much more massive than our Sun.
In the picture, the outlines of this star, together with the giant protoplanetary disk surrounding it, resemble the silhouette of a giant soaring bird with outstretched wings. The disk is long plumes of dust, consisting of matter from the nebula surrounding the star.
ESO notes that the nebula appears to have formed due to the collision of a luminary with a huge cloud of gas and dust. This collision explains the unusual shape of the protoplanetary disk and the dusty structures surrounding it.
Let us add that it is from protoplanetary disks that planets are formed. Particles of matter that make up the discs collide with each other, stick together and eventually grow into bodies of planetary sizes.
