HONG KONG: A University of Rochester astronomer is part of a group of scientists who have been doing some detective work about the importance of large rings of particles and a sun-like star some 3 quadrillion miles away.
These faraway rings are similar to those that go around the planet Saturn, but are more numerous, 200 times bigger and much heavier.
Over time, these huge particle rings are expected to form moons, and already have likely resulted in the creation of at least one.
The process is similar to what happened in the formation of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago when a collapsing cloud of gas and dust formed the sun and planets, with moons around them, said Eric Mamajek, a UR associate professor of physics and astronomy.
A planet must have already formed in this faraway solar system in the making because rings can’t exist without the gravitational pull of a planet.
“This is a snapshot of the formation of moons,” Mamajek said.
The team’s latest findings will be published in Astrophysical Journal. An article about the work appeared in this week’s Time magazine and other media outlets, including CNN.
“The star which the new planet orbits is thought to be very young — about 16 million years, compared with our solar system’s 4.6 billion. If the scientists are right about what they’re seeing, the mammoth ring system will get smaller over time as the outer bands condense into moons,” says Time.
Mamajek considers this research as a long-term — and long-distance — detective story that involves making informed speculation based on data from images gathered from 3 quadrillion miles away.
The research team has included other UR faculty and researchers, working with several researchers abroad, including Matthew Kenworthy of the Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands.
