Protoplanetary disks as a research area encompass the observational, theoretical, and computational study of gas- and dust-rich disks surrounding young stellar objects, which serve as the birthplaces of planets. This field investigates disk structure, composition, thermochemistry, angular momentum transport, and disk evolution through processes such as accretion, turbulence, magnetohydrodynamic effects, dust growth, and planet–disk interactions. Research integrates multiwavelength observations (e.g., ALMA, infrared spectroscopy) with radiative transfer, hydrodynamical, and chemical modeling to constrain disk lifetimes, mass budgets, and conditions for planet formation, as well as to link disk properties to emerging planetary system architectures and demographics.
A study led by Jenny Frediani at Stockholm University has revealed a planet-forming disk with a strikingly unusual chemical composition: an unexpectedly high abundance of carbon dioxide (CO2) in regions where Earth-like planets ...
Astronomy
Aug 29, 2025
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122
Earth is so far the only known planet on which life exists—with liquid water and a stable atmosphere. However, the conditions were not conducive to life when it formed. The gas-dust cloud from which all the planets in the ...
Astrobiology
Aug 28, 2025
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345
The textbook picture of how planets form—serene, flat disks of cosmic dust—has just received a significant cosmic twist.
Planetary Sciences
Aug 27, 2025
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57
An international team of astronomers, co-led by researchers at the University of Galway, has made the unexpected discovery of a new planet.
Astronomy
Aug 26, 2025
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556
Approximately 4.6 billion years ago, our solar system formed from a huge disk of gas and dust orbiting our sun. The asteroids seen today are some of the most complete artifacts of this formation that are left to observe. ...
Astronomy
Aug 21, 2025
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32
Researchers at UC Santa Barbara, The University of Texas at Austin, Yale University and National Taiwan Normal University have found that a fair number of sun-like stars emerge with their rotational axis tilted with respect ...
Astronomy
Aug 6, 2025
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124
Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a team of astronomers led by Abubakar Fadul from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) has discovered complex organic molecules—including the first tentative ...
Astrobiology
Jul 24, 2025
5
159
Researchers from the University of Greifswald and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) in Heidelberg (both in Germany) have developed a prototype experimental setup that simulates flow properties using a water tornado ...
Astronomy
Jul 21, 2025
0
71
Astronomers may have caught a still-forming planet in action, carving out an intricate pattern in the gas and dust that surrounds its young host star. Using ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), they observed a planetary disk ...
Astronomy
Jul 21, 2025
0
145
Astronomers have discovered the earliest seeds of rocky planets forming in the gas around a baby sun-like star, providing a precious peek into the dawn of our own solar system.
Astronomy
Jul 20, 2025
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