The JWST is revealing more detail in circumstellar disks as part of a new effort to locate hard-to-find exoplanets.
The debris disk surrounding AU Microscopii is made of debris from colliding planetesimals. It’s dense and difficult to see into, but the JWST’s powerful infrared instruments can peer inside all that dust. This is uncharted territory and once again shows how valuable the JWST is.
“A debris disk is continuously replenished by collisions of planetesimals. By studying it, we get a unique window into the recent dynamical history of this system,” said Lawson.
The team also found that the disk contains fast-moving clumps of material. In an exchange with Universe Today, lead author Lawson talked about the significance of the clumps. “The ‘fast-moving clumps’ were first reported in 2015 and are likely made of the same material as the rest of the disk,” Lawson said. “These appear to be clouds of dust being accelerated to high velocity by some yet-unknown driver.
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