Research report 2018 - Max Planck Institute for Astronomy

Astronomers witness the birth of a planet

Authors
Keppler, M.; Müller, A.
Departments
Planeten- und Sternentstehung
Summary
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) and the SPHERE instrument consortium at the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) have discovered and characterised an extremely young exoplanet in a state of its formation. This gas giant with the designation PDS 70 b, with a mass equivalent to several Jupiters, was detected orbiting the star PDS 70 within a gap of its protoplanetary disk. This means that PDS 70 b is still in the vicinity of its birth place and likely still accumulating material.

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