Amena Faruqi's team finds planetary masses from dusty rings
Scientists have come up with a new technique to find planets that are tough to see, by studying the dusty rings around young stars.
Led by Amena Faruqi from the University of Warwick, the team figured out that the width and brightness of these rings can reveal how massive the planets inside them are, even if those planets cannot be spotted directly.
The method works across different dust grain sizes and light wavelengths, making it easier for astronomers to track down faint or hidden worlds.
PDS-70 c estimated 7.5 Jupiter masses
The researchers tried this approach on PDS 70, a star system 370 light-years away with two known exoplanets.
Using ALMA data, they estimated one planet, PDS 70 c, is about 7.5 times heavier than Jupiter, matching previous results.
They also found that big dust buildups in these rings could lead to new planet formation.
Published in The Astrophysical Journal last week, this discovery gives us fresh insight into how planets form and evolve, even in our own solar neighborhood.