Taking a Closer Look

Over at Astrocast.tv I’ve been sharing some of the latest astronomy research in a four-minute-long (or so) segment called The Astronomer’s Universe. This month’s topic is planetary system formation and I give you a taste of what astronomers are looking at and what they’re learning as they observe the evidence of planetary formation.

I think people are quite fascinated with the topic for a number of reasons, but one that comes up over and over again is that it gives us insight into how our own Sun and planets formed.  By observing and delving deep into the regions where stars and planets are formed (using multiwavelength instruments — optical, infrared, ultraviolet, and even radio and x-ray) astronomers are starting to get a really good sense of the chemical and physical interactions that take place as clouds of gas and dust coalesce over millions and billions of years. We’ve known the general picture for a long time — that the coalescence results in rocky planets close to stars and gas/ice giants and frozen worlds and moons far away from the stars. And, we’ve known for quite a while that the raw materials for these formation scenarios come from stars that have died and expelled their masses to space.  But, the minute details of how chemicals combine with other ones, how particles stick together, how they stay together through the stormy youth and adolescence of their parent stars and their complex gravitational and magnetic environments, and a thousand other details — that’s all relatively recent research.  Those details mean a lot when it comes to understanding how our own solar system formed. And, how life arose within it (at least on Earth).

I invite you to watch here and then head over to Astrocast.tv (link above) for other enjoyable and fascinating segments about amateur astronomy, our green planet, and a look at space science news  by my fellow ‘Cast members Tavi Greiner, Bente Lilje Bye, and our host and old friend of mine, NASA Solar System Ambassador Greg Redfern. Special thanks to Rich Mathews, our executive producer, for all the hard work corraling us special correspondents and putting all the segments together!