Alice Zurlo – Il Giornale di Vicenza (Italia)
29 / 12 / 2023
This article, which appeared on the cover of the December 28 issue, “concerns a study of the star V960 Mon, more than 5,000 light years away, captured by the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s VLT. The polarized image of the star reveals surprising details of materials that form intricate spiral arms beyond the Solar System. ALMA observations indicate that these arms are fragmenting, forming clumps of dust with masses similar to planets,” explained the academic from the UDP Institute of Astrophysical Studies.
“This finding questions how giant planets form: either by ‘core accretion’ or ‘gravitational instability’. While there is prior evidence for the former, evidence for the latter has been limited,” Zurlo added.
You can read the full article (in Italian) below: