(ORDO NEWS) — A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute has found favorable conditions for planet formation near two closely spaced protostars.
This new study was preceded by work done by another team of astronomers, which discovered two protostars at the earliest stage of development – in the first 500,000 years of their existence.
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute have taken a closer look at these protostars and the environment in which they exist.
The two protostars are currently collectively named IRAS 16293-2422 A and reside in a dense cloud of dust. The researchers designated them as A1 and A2.
Protostars revolve around a common gravitational center and around each other at a distance of 54 AU.
The astronomers also noted that the two stars are kicking up a lot of dust, in which at least three hot spots have been identified.
The scientists speculate that these hotspots are due to shock waves sent into the dust cloud as A1 and A2 pull in material to grow and eject other material that doesn’t mix well with the ingredients already present.
Such shock waves, according to astronomers, cause dust and gases to compress and heat up.
Scientists also note that due to this, more complex molecules can be formed.
And when they combine with the dust around them, stones can form, which will increase in size over time. So around A1 and A2, as they grow older, planets can form.
The researchers also noticed that some of the molecules in the hot spots had already formed into isocyanic acid, which is made up of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen the basic building blocks of organic molecules.
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