Free Astronomy Magazine May-June 2024

42 stars other than the Sun, often with- in systems markedly different from our own Solar System. To under- stand where and how this diversity arises, astronomers must observe by ESO − Bárbara Ferreira Secrets of planet birth around dozens of stars revealed I n a series of studies, a team of as- tronomers has shed new light on the fascinating and complex process of planet formation. The stunning images, captured using the Euro- pean Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile, represent one of the largest ever surveys of planet-forming discs. The research brings together obser- vations of more than 80 young stars that might have planets form- ing around them, providing as- tronomers with a wealth of data and unique insights into how plan- ets arise in different regions of our galaxy. “This is really a shift in our field of study,” says Christian Ginski, a lecturer at the University of Gal- way, Ireland, and lead author of one of three new papers published in Astronomy & Astrophysics . “We’ve gone from the intense study of indi- vidual star systems to this huge overview of entire star-forming re- gions.” To date more than 5000 plan- ets have been discovered orbiting P lanet-forming discs around young stars and their location within the gas-rich cloud of Orion, roughly 1600 light-years from Earth. The mesmerising images of the discs were captured using the Spectro- Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument mounted on ESO’s Very Large Tele- scope (VLT). In total, the team ob- served 23 stars in the Orion region, detecting planet-forming discs around 10 of them. The uneven ap- pearance of some of the discs in this region might suggest that massive planets are embedded within them, since these could cause the discs to warp and become misaligned. The background image shows an in- frared view of Orion captured by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite. [ESO/P.-G. Valegård et al.; IRAS]