The Striking New Images Of The Formation Of Three Young Planetary Systems

European Southern Observatory's (ESO) new instrument known as SPHERE observed three young planetary systems that evolved over time. The scientist could see how the three young planetary systems form gaps, spiral arms and rings and include how planets fashion their protoplanetary disks in different ways.

The descriptions of each system comprised of three papers were published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. The researchers used the SPHERE and the Very Large Telescope's array of instruments that enabled them to perceive the fine details of the protoplanetary disks, which are the planets that shape from massive discs of gas and dust encircling newborn stars.

star HD 135344B Planetary disks inside of star forming debris disk. pic.twitter.com/cVrsNkbs0V

— RydMizar (@Truth1_RydMizar) November 9, 2016

In a paper observed by Tomas Stolker from the Anaton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy in Netherlands, it shows that protoplanetary disk, HD 135344B, have spiral structures. This star is estimated 450 lightyears away from Earth. The team also discovered that its disk has two large arms produced by one or multiple massive protoplanets, according to IFL Science.

Rings around RXJ1615. Proud of my first #Phdstudent @JozuadeBoer, his 1st author paper! #exoplanets #protoplanetarydisk #SPHERE #VLT @ESO pic.twitter.com/HuhpaRJqJi — Julien Girard (@djulik) October 14, 2016

Meanwhile, the young star known as RXJ1615 is surrounded by a complex system of concentric rings. It formed a shape like a titanic version of the rings that encompasses the planet Saturn. The young star is about 600 lightyears from the planet Earth and is observed by Jos de Boer of Leiden Observatory in Netherlands, as reported by ESO.

Fotografía E.S.O. Disc around the star HD97048 https://t.co/rPdRpVyrHQ #Astronomy #Photography

— Jose Miguel Fredes (@jmfredes) October 29, 2016

Another protoplanetary disk known as HD 97048 was also observed. It is about 500 lightyears away from the Earth and located in the constellation of Chamaeleon. The researchers discovered that the juvenile disk around the star has also shaped into concentric rings.

These observations and studies of disks could help the researchers in understanding how planets shape the discs that form them resulting in comprehending the planet formation.