Scientists Release New Information about Area near Fomalhaut Star
2023-05-13
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1Scientists have released new information about an area around a bright star called Fomalhaut in the Milky Way galaxy.
2The observations, made by the James Webb Space Telescope, provide details about three rings, or belts, of debris orbiting Fomalhaut.
3Fomalhaut, one of the brightest stars in our night sky, is about 25 light years from Earth. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, about 9.5 trillion kilometers.
4Researchers first discovered a belt of debris around Fomalhaut in 1983.
5The Webb found two other rings nearer to the star - a bright inner one and a narrow middle one.
6These three belts appear to be populated by solid objects called planetesimals.
7Some planetesimals are thought to join together early in a star system's history to form planets, while others remain as debris like asteroids and comets.
8Andras Gaspar of the University of Arizona was the lead author of the study published in Nature Astronomy.
9"Much like our solar system, other planetary systems harbor disks of asteroids and comets - leftover planetesimals from the epoch of planet formation - that continuously grind themselves down" during collisions, he said.
10Fomalhaut is 16 times brighter than the sun and almost twice as massive.
11It is about 440 million years old - less than a tenth the age of the sun - but is probably almost halfway through its life.
12The three belts surround Fomalhaut from as far as 23 billion kilometers away.
13That is about 150 times the distance of Earth to the sun.
14While no planets have been discovered yet around Fomalhaut, the researchers suspect the belts were created by gravitational forces of planets.
15Our solar system has two such belts - the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and the Kuiper belt beyond Neptune.
16The gravitational influence of Jupiter, our solar system's largest planet, affects the main asteroid belt.
17Neptune's gravitational influence shapes the inner edge of the Kuiper belt.
18Gaspar said that observations of Fomalhaut suggest the presence of a huge icy planet in the system.
19Debris belts could offer information about planetary beginnings.
20"Understanding this formation process requires a complete understanding of how these disks form and evolve," said study co-author Schuyler Wolff.
21There are many open questions about the dust in the disks, the scientist added.
22Debris disks are the remains of a planet formation process, Wolff said, so their structure can provide valuable information about the underlying planet population and history.
23I'm John Russell.
1Scientists have released new information about an area around a bright star called Fomalhaut in the Milky Way galaxy. The observations, made by the James Webb Space Telescope, provide details about three rings, or belts, of debris orbiting Fomalhaut. 2Fomalhaut, one of the brightest stars in our night sky, is about 25 light years from Earth. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, about 9.5 trillion kilometers. 3Researchers first discovered a belt of debris around Fomalhaut in 1983. The Webb found two other rings nearer to the star - a bright inner one and a narrow middle one. 4These three belts appear to be populated by solid objects called planetesimals. Some planetesimals are thought to join together early in a star system's history to form planets, while others remain as debris like asteroids and comets. 5Andras Gaspar of the University of Arizona was the lead author of the study published in Nature Astronomy. 6"Much like our solar system, other planetary systems harbor disks of asteroids and comets - leftover planetesimals from the epoch of planet formation - that continuously grind themselves down" during collisions, he said. 7Fomalhaut is 16 times brighter than the sun and almost twice as massive. It is about 440 million years old - less than a tenth the age of the sun - but is probably almost halfway through its life. 8The three belts surround Fomalhaut from as far as 23 billion kilometers away. That is about 150 times the distance of Earth to the sun. 9While no planets have been discovered yet around Fomalhaut, the researchers suspect the belts were created by gravitational forces of planets. Our solar system has two such belts - the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and the Kuiper belt beyond Neptune. 10The gravitational influence of Jupiter, our solar system's largest planet, affects the main asteroid belt. Neptune's gravitational influence shapes the inner edge of the Kuiper belt. 11Gaspar said that observations of Fomalhaut suggest the presence of a huge icy planet in the system. 12Debris belts could offer information about planetary beginnings. 13"Understanding this formation process requires a complete understanding of how these disks form and evolve," said study co-author Schuyler Wolff. 14There are many open questions about the dust in the disks, the scientist added. Debris disks are the remains of a planet formation process, Wolff said, so their structure can provide valuable information about the underlying planet population and history. 15I'm John Russell. 16Will Dunham reported on this story for Reuters. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. 17__________________________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19debris - n. : the pieces that are left after something has been destroyed 20harbor - v. to hold or contain (something) 21epoch - n. an event or a time marked by an event that begins a new period or development 22disk - n. a shape that is flat and round in appearance 23grind - v. to crush or break (something) into very small pieces