Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Around one of the stars in the Microscope constellation there were discovered new elements with the help of pictures taken by the Hubble Telescope. These magnified under a research microscope elements appear to be ten times bigger than the regular nuggets of protoplanetary disks and somehow resemble fluffy and snowy flakes. This discovery was made by several specialists under the supervision and guidance of James R. Graham from the University of California at Berkley. According to the scientists' information, facts which they provided and the pictures watched under laboratory microscopes, the "flakes" appeared as a result of the collision of some fragments of a "snowball" size. Supposedly these objects are located in the part of the disc called the ring of birth. After the collision, these "snowballs" stay in the ring of birth. As for the small flakes-pieces, they are being thrown away to the disk periphery by the starry wind pressure. At present time science knows many planets and proplanetary disks located around different stars. But the process of evolution of the planetary systems from the dust was still unknown. And this discovery fills the essential gap in the conception of the planet formation. Also, this research helped scientists to learn, that the protoplanetary disk structure is much more complicated, then they thought earlier.