First-ever sighting of water ‘snow line’ around young star
First-ever sighting of water ‘snow line’ around young star
A dramatic increase in its brightness has pushed the water snow line out to a distance of around six billion km or roughly the size of the orbit of the dwarf planet Pluto.
Updated: July 14, 2016 12:24 pm
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Artist impression of the water snowline around the young star V883 Orionis, as detected with ALMA. Credit: A. Angelich/almaobservatory.org/
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Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) facility in Chile have reported the first-ever sighting of water snow line around a young star.
A violent outburst by the young star V883 Orionis has given astronomers their first view of a water “snowline” in a protoplanetary disk – the transition point around the star where the temperature and pressure are low enough for water ice to form.
A dramatic increase in its brightness has pushed the water snow line out to a distance of around six billion km or roughly the size of the orbit of the dwarf planet Pluto.
The sudden brightening that V883 Orionis experienced is an example of what occurs when large amounts of material from the disc surrounding a young star fall onto its surface.
More:
http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/first-ever-sighting-of-water-snow-line-around-young-star-2913000/
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