HST Images Help Scientists Learn More about Planet Formation

The images, which were part of series of photos snapped by the space telescope in the early 2000s, show the planetary systems forming from clouds of gas. Astronomer say the images show a series of planetary systems similar to that of our own the solar system.

Remi Soummer, who led the team at the Space Telescope Science Institute, said that using new processing techniques on Hubble’s archival data was the key to discovering the debris disks.

“These findings increase the number of debris disks seen in scattered light from 18 to 23. By significantly adding to the known population and by showing the variety of shapes in these new disks, Hubble can help astronomers learn more about how planetary systems form and evolve,” said Soummer.

According to a report by the Space Reporter, the images show a set of stars with an unusual heat signatures and were obtained from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite back in 1983. Hubble later captured images of the star in 1999 and 2006, revealing a stunning display.

Planetary formation remains a relatively new field of astronomy. Astronomers have spent the past several years attempting to better understand how different planets form. With the discovery of thousands of new alien planets recently, more questions than answer have been raised, leading some planetary formation theories under threat.

The images will likely provide astronomers with a better understanding of how worlds outside of our solar system form. NASA, working in conjunction with astronomers around the world, has already collected data on a number of planets (about 3,000), some of which may hold the secrets to how life began on Earth. Understanding exactly how planets form will likely allow astronomers to better filter the next generation of alien planet data, possibly leading to better Earth-like candidates.