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Where did planets come from? This question has intrigued skywatchers and astronomers for many years.
In the 18th century, Immanuel Kant and Pierre-Simon Laplace proposed that planets were born from a disk of dust and gas surrounding the nascent Sun.
This theory was based on the observation that all planets revolve around the Sun in the same plane and share a common direction of orbit. The scientists compared this particular trait to a record spinning on a phonograph.
It was only after two centuries that the theory was backed up with compelling evidence. When IRAS (Infrared Astronomical Satellite) captured the curious excess of infrared light from the dust around the star Vega, it supported the idea of disks forming around young stars .
But as we continue to dig deeper and explore further, we stumble upon new surprises. When astronomers from the University of Arizona decided to aim for a closer look at the Vega system using the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes, they discovered something intriguing.
It appears the Vega disk is phenomenally smooth. The characteristic churning and plowing seen in other stellar disks, usually caused by planets, is absent here.
In fact, the Vega disk seems almost as flat as a pancake, showing no evidence of any planets. This challenges our previous understanding and calls for a reassessment of the variety of planetary systems .
⁘Our observations of Vega surprise us at every turn, and force us to rethink our understanding of exoplanetary systems,⁘ said study lead author Kate Su.
Fomalhaut is a star similar to Vega in terms of distance, age, and temperature. Yet, their systems show stark architectural differences. Fomalhaut has three debris belts, indicating the potential presence of planets that could be regulating the dust into rings.
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