Friday, July 20, 2012

Planet-forming disk abruptly shuts down

Planet-forming disk abruptly shuts down
July 6, 2012 - Astronomy.com
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Astronomers first saw the dusty disk at TYC 8241 2652 using NASA's Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) in 1983, and it remained brightly glowing for 25 years. Like Earth, warm dust absorbs the energy of visible starlight (sunlight) and reradiates that heat energy as infrared radiation. An infrared image obtained at the Gemini Telescope in Chile on May 1, 2012 confirmed that the warm dust has now been gone for 2.5 years.
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