Free Astronomy Magazine May-June 2024

44 MAY-JUNE 2024 ASTRO PUBLISHING Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), and lead author of one of the papers. The team studied a total of 86 stars across three different star-forming regions of our galaxy: Taurus and Chamaeleon I, both around 600 light- years from Earth, and Orion, a gas-rich cloud about 1600 light-years from us that is known to be the birthplace of several stars more mas- sive than the Sun. The observations were gathered by a large in- ternational team, com- prising scientists from more than 10 countries. The team was able to glean several key in- sights from the dataset. For example, in Orion they found that stars in groups of two or more were less likely to have large planet-forming discs. This is a significant result given that, unlike our Sun, most stars in our galaxy have com- panions. As well as this, the uneven appearance of the discs in this re- gion suggests the possi- bility of massive planets embedded within them, which could be causing the discs to warp and become misaligned. While planet-forming discs can ex- tend for distances hundreds of times greater than the distance be- tween Earth and the Sun, their loca- tion several hundreds of light-years from us makes them appear as tiny pinpricks in the night sky. To observe the discs, the team em- ployed the sophisticated Spectro- P lanet-forming discs around young stars and their location within the gas-rich cloud of Tau- rus, roughly 600 light-years from Earth. The stunning images of the discs were captured using the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument mounted on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). In total, the team observed 43 stars in the Taurus region, all of which are pictured here (though planet-forming discs were only detected in 39 of these targets). The background image shows an infrared view of Taurus captured by the Infrared As- tronomical Satellite. [ESO/A.Garufi et al.; IRAS] ral arms, presumably driven by the intricate ballet of orbiting planets,” says Ginski. “Others show rings and large cavities carved out by form- ing planets, while yet others seem smooth and almost dormant among all this bustle of activity,” adds An- tonio Garufi, an astronomer at the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, the dust- and gas-rich discs that en- velop young stars — the very cradles of planet formation. These are best found in huge gas clouds where the stars themselves are forming. Much like mature planetary systems, the new images showcase the extraordi- nary diversity of planet-forming discs. “Some of these discs show huge spi-