Astronomy › Section O · Star birth and exoplanets › Topic O.3
Evidence of planets forming around other stars
Finished planets are tiny and faint next to their stars, but the dusty discs they grow from are enormous and glow brightly in the infrared. Those discs, with their rings, gaps and even half-built planets, show planet formation happening right now.
In this topic
- Look for the raw material
- Worked example: dust versus a finished planet
- Discs are everywhere
- Worked example: reading a disc's temperature
- Discs keep time
- From dust to planetesimals
- Building giant planets
- Rings, gaps and planets caught growing
- Debris discs: what is left
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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