University of Victoria researchers are taking a new look at the stars, with the UVic team part of a groundbreaking discovery about planetary formation.  

The Canadian-led team of international astronomers made the discovery by leveraging a unique approach with tools from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The researchers used the telescope to study PDS 70 香蕉视频直播� a young star orbited by two growing planets.  

香蕉视频直播淭his is like seeing a family photo of our solar system when it was just a toddler,香蕉视频直播� says Dori Blakely, a University of Victoria PhD candidate who led the research. 香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 incredible to think about how much we can learn from one system.香蕉视频直播� 

The system can be found 370 light-years away from Earth and provides scientists with a rare opportunity to see how planets form and evolve in their early stages.

Their research provides evidence for a process called 香蕉视频直播渁ccretion香蕉视频直播� wherein planets wrangle material from their host star, pulling in mass from the gas and dust around them.  

By watching the planets surrounding PDS-70 grow and interact with their environment, their discoveries provide a clearer picture of how planets and stars grow together and helped scientists learn how planetary systems came to be 香蕉视频直播� including our own.  

香蕉视频直播淪eeing planets in the act of accreting material helps us answer longstanding questions about how planetary systems form and evolve. It香蕉视频直播檚 like watching a solar system being built before our very eyes,香蕉视频直播� says Doug Johnstone, an adjunct professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and principal research officer at the National Research Council of Canada香蕉视频直播檚 Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre. 

The young star, approximately five million years old, is surrounded by a pancake-like disk of gas and dust. In a large gap at the centre, the two new planets 香蕉视频直播� PDS 70 b and PDS 70 c 香蕉视频直播� are beginning to form. 

To get a clear view of the planets the team covered the telescope's near-infared image and slitless spectrograph (NRISS) with a mask covered in tiny holes. The holes allowed a tiny amount of light to pass through, essentially 香蕉视频直播渢urning down the young star香蕉视频直播檚 blinding spotlight so you can see the details of what香蕉视频直播檚 around it,香蕉视频直播� said Professor Rene Doyon, director of the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets and principal investigator for JWST香蕉视频直播檚 NIRISS instrument. 

Their unique approach allowed the team to observe details that would have been lost in traditional telescope imaging and continues to demonstrate the power of the JWST as a tool for planetary study.