May 22, 2020

The AB Aurigae system seen by SPHERE

An article published in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics” reports evidence of the existence of a planet in formation in the protoplanetary disk surrounding the young star AB Aurigae. A team of researchers led by Anthony Boccaletti, of the Observatoire de Paris, PSL University, France, used the SPHERE instrument mounted on ESO’s VLT in Chile to find traces of what could be a planet. SPHERE takes real photos of the objects, so if the discovery was confirmed it would be the first direct evidence of a planet seen while it’s forming.