A
developing star has been found to have two disks of material rotating in
opposite directions. The discovery hints at a future solar system with planets
going this way and that.
"This
is the first time anyone has seen anything like this, and it means that the
process of forming planets from such disks is more complex than we previously
expected," said Anthony Remijan, of the National Radio Astronomy
Observatory.
When stars
form, they collapse from a cloud of gas and dust. A ring of leftovers generally
develops and rotates in the same direction as the star. From the disk, planets
form.
"The
solar system that likely will be formed around this star will include planets
orbiting in different directions, unlike our own solar system in which all the
planets orbit the Sun in the same direction," said study co-leader Jan M.
Hollis, of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
The
discovery, announced today, suggests the star was born in an unconventional
manner. The whole setup sits within a large, star-forming region where chaotic
motions cause clouds to rotate in different directions.
"We
think this system may have gotten material from two clouds instead of one, and
the two were rotating in opposite directions," Remijan said.
There is
enough material to form planets from both parts of the disk, Remijan said.
The finding
was made with the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array radio
telescope. Material moving toward or away from the telescope emits radiation at
different frequencies, just as the siren of an ambulance changes pitch when it
moves toward and then away from you in what's known as a Doppler shift.
The
counter-rotation is not entirely surprising, "since the phenomenon has been
previously reported in the disks of galaxies," Hollis said.
The results
will be detailed in the April 1 edition of the Astrophysical Journal.
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