protoplanetary disk – National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Cooking With Gas

Posted on June 9, 2023October 10, 2023 | By Brian Koberlein

When a star begins to form, the heat and pressure generated during the initial collapse of a protostar can…

RU Lup Spiral

ALMA image of the planet-forming disk around the young star RU Lup, showing a giant set of spiral arms made out of gas. The structure extends to nearly 1000 astronomical units from the star.

ALMA image of the planet-forming disk around the young star RU Lup. The inset image (lower left, red disk) shows a previous (DSHARP) observation of the dust disk with rings and gaps that hint at the presence of forming planets. The new observation shows a large spiral structure (in blue), made out of gas, that spans far beyond the compact dust disk.

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