A planet in three million years!

2003/07/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronomia

How long does it take to create a planet? Ten million years? This is what most scientists have believed so far, but researchers at the University of Michigan claim that to create a planet it only takes three million years.

To draw this conclusion, the infrared waves emitted by the dust disc surrounding the young stars have been measured. A study have had stars from the constellations of Orio and Perseo and have seen that over time the dust surrounding the stars is decreasing.

It seems that around stars without a dust disk just planets form. However, from the birth of a star surrounded by dust and gas, dust is grouping into planets. The rest of the dust joins the star.

Thus, with the passage of time, the amount of dust decreases and in five or six million years the star has no disc of dust around. Therefore, the planet has come to the conclusion that they form when the star has dust around.