Astronomy: Protoplanetary Disks

Astronomy: Protoplanetary Disks
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Concepts & Techniques
Protoplanetary Disks A protoplanetary disk is a rotating circumstellar disc of dense gas and dust surrounding a young newly formed star, a T Tauri star, or Herbig Ae/Be star. The protoplanetary disk may not be considered an accretion disk; while the two are similar, an accretion disk is hotter and spins much faster; it is also found on black holes, not stars.

Commentary

Commentary

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Protoplanetary Disks A protoplanetary disk is a rotating circumstellar disc of dense gas and dust surrounding a young newly formed star, a T Tauri star, or Herbig Ae/Be star. The protoplanetary disk may not be considered an accretion disk; while the two are similar, an accretion disk is hotter and spins much faster; it is also found on black holes, not stars. This process should not be confused with the accretion process thought to build up the planets themselves.

Commentary

Source: Internal
Why Protoplanetary Disks matters: These foundational ide as and techniques are the tools astronomers use to measure, classify, and understand everything from nearby planets to the most distant galaxies. Externally illuminated photo-evaporating protoplanetary disks are called proplyds.

Commentary

Source: Internal
Deep dive: Protoplanetary Disks Protop lanetary Disks continues to be an active area of research in modern astronomy. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protoplanetary_disk (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)