May 9, 2023

On the right side, the disk in 2021 is shown with the already known shadow, here marked as (B), and the new shadow (C) generated by an inner disk.

An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal” reports the results of observations of the protoplanetary disk surrounding the very young star TW Hydrae. A team of researchers used observations conducted with the Hubble Space Telescope to examine the ongoing processes and evolution of planetary formation in the system. A protoplanet was identified in 2016 and that had increased the interest in that protoplanetary disk. In 2017, a shadow was identified that indicated the presence of an internal disk inclined relative to the external disk. Now a second shadow appears to come from another disk on the system’s inner side. This means that there may also be another planet in the making.