NASA: Planets Might Arise From Dead Stars
Posted on: Wednesday, 5 April 2006, 18:00 CDT
NASA says its Spitzer Space Telescope has uncovered new evidence that planets might be created from a dead star's ashes.
Astronomers said the infrared telescope surveyed a pulsar -- the remnant of an exploded star -- and found a surrounding disk consisting of debris ejected during the star's death throes. Scientists say the rubble in the disk might ultimately form planets.
The discovery marks the first time scientists have detected planet-building materials around a star that died in a fiery blast.
We're amazed that the planet-formation process seems to be so universal, said Deepto Chakrabarty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, principal investigator of the research. Pulsars emit a tremendous amount of high energy radiation, yet within this harsh environment we have a disk that looks a lot like those around young stars where planets are formed.
The paper detailing the Spitzer finding appears in the April 6 issue of Nature.
Source: United Press International
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