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Astronomy

Rochester Researchers Find ‘Baby Planet’

Planets
TAURUS BORN: William Forrest and Dan Watson, both professors of physics and astronomy, have discovered evidence of what could be the youngest planet ever detected—a world no more than a million years old circling the distant star CoKu Tau 4 in the constellation Taurus, 420 light-years from Earth. Using data from the Spitzer Space Telescope, which analyzes the infrared spectrum, the team found icy organic materials sprinkled throughout several “planetary construction zones,” or dusty planet-forming disks, around five young, sun-like stars. Shown here in an artist’s conception, the planet cannot be seen directly, but Spitzer’s infrared instruments clearly showed that an area of dust in the disk around CoKu Tau 4 was missing, strongly suggesting the presence of a planet. “We’ve seen the building blocks of habitable planets, for the first time, unambiguously” in stars that will turn out like our sun, says Watson. The team also detected icy dust grains in the envelopes of several young stars, suggesting some of the important precursors of life may be common components in the star-forming process. Originally called the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), the critical infrared “eyes” of the Spitzer telescope were designed in part by Judith Pipher, professor emerita of physics and astronomy, Forrest, and Watson. (Photo: NASA/JPL-CalTech/R Hurt (SSC-CalTech)