Protoplanet

Located in the constellation Sagittarius, the young star HD 169142 is host to a giant protoplanet embedded within its dusty, gas-rich protoplanetary disk. This artist’s conception shows the Jupiter-like planet interacting with and heating nearby molecular gas, driving outflows seen in several emission lines, including those from shock-tracing molecules like SO and SiS, and the commonly seen 12CO and 13CO. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), M. Weiss (NRAO/AUI/NSF)Using the <span class="glossaryLink"…

Image of the HD 169142 system showing the signal of the forming planet HD 169142 b (around 11 o’clock), as well as a bright spiral arm resulting from the dynamic interaction between the planet and the disc in which it is located. The signal from the star, 100,000 times brighter than the planet, was subtracted by a combination of optical components and image processing (mask in the center of the image). Observations at different times show the planet advancing in its orbit over time. Image obtained with ESO’s VLT/SPHERE…