Radio Astronomy Reveals a Long and Winding Road in Space

Wow!  Check out this latest image of the Orion Nebula!

Just when you think astronomy can’t get any cooler, something like this comes out: radio astronomers using the Green Bank Telescope (a radio telescope in West Virginia) have found filaments of star-forming gas near the Orion Nebula. Embedded in those filaments are what they think could be large grains of rocky material, the building blocks of planets.

If this discovery is held up through further observations, it would be the first time large particles — perhaps the size of a Lego-type building block — have been detected in such a dense super-nurturing star- and planet-forming nursery. Prior to this, regions of star birth were understood to be thick with dust-sized grains.  The existence of larger grains could change the dynamic of planet formation in this and other regions where larger particles exist.

Scott Schnee, an astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and lead on the team doing the work, pointed out that the availability of large-enough (pebble or Lego-sized) planetary building blocks would encourage the formation of planets around newborn stars in the region. “If you want to build a house, it’s best to start with bricks rather than gravel,” he said, implying that it would lead to faster building rates than normal.

Planet formation, similar to building a house, needs material to get started. Most planet nurseries start out with grains of material perhaps no larger than dust specks or maybe sand bits. Over time, those materials stick together to form larger and larger planetesimals, which collide to form planets. If you can start with bigger pieces, that might shorten the planet formation time.

Continue reading Orion’s Pebbled Pathway to Stars and Planets →