Banana split in space.Fruit can't grow in space, but scientists from Japan have discovered the next best thing. Using a telescope on Earth, they've spotted two large features that look like bright yellow, banana-shaped objects facing each other, deep in outer space. The bananas aren't edible, and they certainly don't have peels. Instead, they're part of a protoplanetary disk protoplanetary disk A rotating disk of dust and gas that surrounds the core of a developing solar system. It may eventually develop into orbiting celestial bodies such as planets and asteroids. See more at planetesimal. surrounding a young star. Inside the disk, clouds of dust and gas are forming into planets. Two bright-yellow, banana-shaped arcs of gas and dust face each other within a newly discovered disk surrounding a nearby young star. Subaru Telescope Astronomers Famous astronomers and astrophysicists include: Directory: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A
The disk surrounds a star called HD 142527, which lies 650 light-years from Earth. Astronomers studied the star and its disk using the Subaru telescope on Mauna Kea Mauna Kea (mou`nə kā`ə), dormant volcano, 13,796 ft (4,205 m) high, in the south central part of the island of Hawaii. It is the loftiest peak in the Hawaiian Islands and the highest island mountain in the world, rising c. , Hawaii. The disk has a radius equal to about six times the distance between the sun and Neptune. The astronomers also noted a gap separating an inner and outer portion of the disk. They suspect that a planet carved carve v. carved, carv·ing, carves v.tr. 1. a. To divide into pieces by cutting; slice: carved a roast. b. out this gap as it emerged from the disk some time in the distant past. Astronomers observed a large gap between the outer and inner regions of the disk surrounding star HD 142527. The gap was probably cleared by a planet that formed within the disk. Subaru Telescope The banana-shaped features stretch even farther out farther out Of or relating to an option contract with a later expiration date than a contract that is currently owned or being considered. For example, a contract with a May expiration date is farther out than a contract with a February expiration date of . These features were probably created by the pull of another star that passed by within the last thousand years, or perhaps by a large, outlying out·ly·ing adj. Relatively distant or remote from a center or middle: outlying regions. outlying Adjective far away from the main area Adj. 1. planet. The HD 142527 disk isn't the first to defy the standard disk shape. A doughnut-shaped disk appears to surround a pair of stars that lie in the constellation Constellation, ship Constellation (kŏnstĭlā`shən), U.S. frigate, launched in 1797. It was named by President Washington for the constellation of 15 stars in the U.S. flag of that time. Taurus. And a spiral-shaped disk surrounds a star near the constellation Auriga. Maybe strawberries and apples will be next! |
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