How the University of Arizona discovered proto-planet LkCa 15b

“We also expect that there are more systems like this one, and we would like to find them”

Researcher and Astronomer Josh Eisner from the Arizona team that discovered proto-planet dubbed LkCa 15b

Scientists have for the first time, observed something that's quite spectacular.

In November 2015, it was announced that a team of researchers from the University of Arizona led by astronomer Zhaohuan Zhu has discovered what may be the first planet about to be born as reported in the article “A Planet Is Born - And We Have The Pictures To Prove It”, published November 19 2015, by Brid-Aine Parnell, Forbes.  

The alien proto-planet, dubbed LkCa 15b, orbits a star LkCa 15 450 light years away, was spotted back in 2011 using the Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea in Hawai'i. Researchers suspected back then it was planet in formation, being as it cut a huge swathe thought the star's disk 100 times wider than the distance between the Earth and the sun.

Being the first planet for the star LkCa 15 450, LkCa 15b is very close to its host star and may gradually spiral inwards.

The researchers, in their publication in the Journal Nature entitled “Astrophysics: Growing planet” brought to light have also achieved a first; direct imaging of the proto planet in the process of being formed as noted in the article “Scientists witness the Developement of Baby planets for the first time”, published November 18, 2015 By Sarah Fecht, Popular Science.

So how did they image proto-planet LkCa 15b?

University of Arizona discovers proto-planet LkCa 15 450 – How burping H-alpha photons is signs of a growth spurt

Like any normal main sequence star, a planet's formation will give off tell tale signs of radiation.

As the ball of gas develops and swirls into a planet, it develops an accretion disk of unused gas and dust around the main structures forming the planet. as it swirls, its magnetic field suck in and heats up that nebulous accretion disk gas to temperatures as high as 9704 C (17,500 F).

 

Heating hydrogen gas in the accretion disk to this temperature gives off a specific wavelength of light called H-alpha photons, which the researchers spotted using the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona.

Using an H-alpha photo filter on the telescope, they spotted the signature radiation coming from the accretion disk of this object, suggesting that this was indeed a planet in formation along with possibly two (2) other sibling planets.

As 2016 rolls on, the researchers are looking to finds ways to study the chemistry of the atmosphere of these proto-planets as they form, even though the process may take millions of years.

This as it may give insights into how life can possibly form, especial as one of the planets may end up being a Jupiter-like body with exomoons that support life as explained in my blog article entitled “University of Sao Paulo Astronomers find HIP 11915 with Jupiter-like exoplanet – Earth 2.0 beckons in the Jovian Moons”. 

Possibly this proto-planet LkCa 15b and its two other siblings are involved in a sibling rivalry as they feed of their mother nebulous milk?

Here's the article

Astrophysics: Growing planet brought to light 

Excerpt from the journal Nature for the paper Astrophysics: Growing planet brought to light