MUSE Spots Bizarre Stellar Object with Illuminated Protoplanetary Disk [View all]

Jun 3, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile have imaged 177-341 W, a proplyd — an externally illuminated protoplanetary disk around a young star — located in the Orion Nebula Cluster.



This VLT/MUSE image shows the proplyd 177-341 W. Image credit: ESO / Aru et al., doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202349004.

Young stars are surrounded by a disk of gas and dust — the building materials for planets.

When other very bright and massive stars are present nearby, their light heats the young star’s disk, stripping away part of its material.

“Protoplanetary disks, composed of gas and dust, emerge as a consequence of the star formation process, and provide the birth-places of planetary systems,” explained ESO astronomer Mari-Liis Aru and colleagues.

“The evolutionary pathways of protoplanetary disks and their ability to form planets are expected to differ depending on the surrounding environment, with disks undergoing rapid changes in the presence of massive stars.”

More:
https://www.sci.news/astronomy/muse-proplyd-orion-nebula-cluster-12985.html