Chapter 1: The Birth of Planets

Recent observations reveal the dynamic process of planet formation within the TW Hya disk, located 200 light years from Earth. This discovery sheds light on how planets emerge from the gas and dust surrounding young stars.

Astronomers have analyzed images taken six years apart (2016 and 2021) to study a 10 million-year-old star where planets are forming. The latest visuals were captured using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. These images were compared with earlier data from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) in 2016.

Section 1.1: Understanding TW Hydrae

TW Hydrae is a T Tauri star situated approximately 196 light-years away in the Hydra constellation. It possesses around 80% of the Sun's mass and is relatively young, at about 5 to 10 million years old. The star is surrounded by a protoplanetary disk of gas and dust, first distinguished in images from the ALMA observatory. TW Hydrae is part of the "TW Hydrae association," a group of about twenty similar low-mass stars, marking one of the closest regions of recent star formation to our solar system.

The ALMA image from 2016 showcases a gap at 1 AU (the distance from Earth to the Sun), indicating the potential formation of a planet in a similar orbit to Earth. TW Hya exhibits variability of approximately 20% to 30% in the visible spectrum over cycles of about three days, providing additional data for study.

Subsection 1.1.1: Shadows of Formation

The 2016 images revealed shadows on the disks surrounding TW Hya. Astronomers interpreted these as indicating an inner disk tilted relative to an outer disk, blocking light from the central star. This led to discussions regarding the implications of misaligned disks and their role in early planet formation.

Chapter 2: Evolving Shadows and New Insights

In the latest 2021 Hubble images, researchers noted changes in the shadows observed previously. The shadows are now seen moving counterclockwise and have evolved into two distinct entities, suggesting alterations in the occulting structure.

The video titled "Earth to Earth, Dust to Dust: The Birth and Death of Worlds" provides an overview of the planetary formation process, offering insights into how these celestial bodies evolve over time.

The researchers reported: "We continue to see the shadow moving in a counterclockwise fashion, but in these new images, the shadow has evolved into two separate shadows." This observation points to potential changes in the dynamic nature of the dust and gas surrounding the star.

The second video, "Birth of Planet Earth || 4k," delves deeper into the processes that led to the formation of Earth, paralleling the findings in the TW Hya disk.

The presence of multiple tilted rings in the disk indicates the likelihood of several planetary companions in the inner regions, supporting the idea of a complex planetary system evolving.

Conclusion: A Window into Planetary Birth

John Debes, a post-doctoral researcher at the European Space Agency, noted the unexpected nature of the data, stating, "When I first looked at the data, I thought something had gone wrong with the observation because it wasn’t what I was expecting." This underscores the significance of the findings as astronomers continue to explore planetary accretion processes.

The alignment of the TW Hya system offers a unique opportunity for astronomers to study how planets form from dust rings. The data suggests that the observed shadows rotate at different rates, indicating that two unseen planets are influencing the dust around them, leading to observable changes over just a few years.

The ongoing search for other systems exhibiting similar planetary formation processes continues, although the chances of discovering another suitably aligned system remain slim.

The Hubble Space Telescope has proven invaluable over its 32 years of operation, and with the addition of the James Webb Space Telescope, the wealth of data available for study continues to grow. NASA reports the discovery of over 5,330 exoplanets, enhancing our understanding of the cosmos.

Stay tuned for more insights as we delve deeper into the mysteries of planetary formation.