ALMA Captures Image of the Planet Factory

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) began its scientific observations in 2011 and released its first images to the press on October 3, 2011. But it was not until 2013 when it became fully operational.

Now, it has captured yet again another stunning image of the young star RU Lup which reveals that planet-forming environments may be more complex and chaotic than previously expected.

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Complex and Chaotic Protoplanetary Disk Around RU Lup

All planets in the universe are born in protoplanetary disks or the disks of gas and dust around stars. ALMA provides images of these planet factories showing dusty disks with potential emerging planets like the HL Tau and TW Hydrae.

But unlike these initial dust observations, disks are not necessarily neatly arranged. The new ALMA image of the young star RU Lup in the Lupus constellation revealed that there is a giant set of spiral arms of gas extending beyond its dust disk. It looks like a 'mini-galaxy.'

Earlier observations of RU Lup with ALMA revealed signs of an ongoing planet formation as hinted by the dust gaps in its protoplanetary disk.

Lead author on the paper published in the Astrophysical Journal, Jane Huang, said that even before their recent discovery they had observed faint carbon monoxide gas structures that extended beyond the disk which made them decide to observe it again this time focusing on the gas and not the dust.

Protoplanetary disks composed of more gas than dust which is needed for a planet's atmosphere. Previously, high-resolution observations of dust structures have paved the way for planetary formation.

But this new image of the gas means that the current view of how planets form is still too simple. The image suggests that it could be more complex and chaotic.

Huang and her colleagues said that there could be a variety of possible scenarios that explain the spiral arms found around RU Lup.

One is that the disk maybe is collapsing under its own gravity due to its mass, or it could be that RU Lup is interacting with another star. Another reason is that perhaps RU Lup is interacting with its environment.

Sean Andrews, a team member, said that out of these scenarios, none completely explains their observation.

"There might be unknown processes happening during planet formation that we have not yet accounted for in our models. We will only learn what they are if we find other disks out there that look like RU Lup," Andrews said.

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Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)

ALMA is an international astronomy facility with 66 radio telescopes in the Atacama Desert in Chile, observing the electromagnetic radiation at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. It is used to provide insight into the birth of a star during the early Stelliferous era, as well as the detailed imaging of local star and planetary formation.

ALMA partnered with the European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, as well as with the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and Japan's National Institutes of Natural Sciences.

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