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posted by takyon on Wednesday March 07 2018, @09:21PM   Printer-friendly
from the he-didn't-go-to-Jared's dept.

From Gizmodo:

[...] an enormous ring of debris, 237 light years away from Earth, orbiting a long-studied, young star called HR 4796A. While the bright white ring of debris may be the most visually striking part of the image, astronomers are more excited about what's around it: the much larger, less-concentrated area of dust around it.

[...] Researchers aren't quite sure how the system got its shape, but perhaps the nearby companion star, HR 4796B, is influencing the shape with its gravitational pull. It's not easy understanding these things, given all the possible influencing factors, according to a Hubble press release.

Hubble has observed few systems like HR 4796A, but the scientists predict that these debris ring might be relatively common in younger stars, according to the paper. HR 4796 is a mere 8 million years old—our sun is around 4.5 billion years. And understanding these structures could help understand how stars evolve, and even how planets might form around these young stars. Our own solar system probably formed from a dust disk, too, after all.

The HR 4796A Debris System: Discovery of Extensive Exo-ring Dust Material (DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/aaa3f3) (DX)


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