NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has helped solve an infrared mystery around baby star systems that has baffled astronomers since the 1980s.
During the 80's, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) mission surveyed young stat systems to measure the infrared light they emitted. During those observations however, astronomers noticed something odd. Young star systems were generating "too much" infrared radiation, according to a Spitzer Space Telescope press release.
Since then more infrared observations have been made and more "refined" models have suggested that the flat structure of protoplanetary disks may need a second look.
Updated theoretical models include adding a halo of dusty material encapsulating the star, and a modification of the "classic" protoplanetary disk, according to the press release.
By doing this, astronomers claim more dust is heated than the disk scenario, which could explain the excess in infrared radiation.
With some help from Spitzer and new 3-D models, astronomers believe they have a more "refined" answer, according to the press release.
"If you could somehow stand on one of these planet-forming disks and look at the star in the center through the disk atmosphere, you would see what looks like a sunset," said Neal Turner of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif, according to the press release.
The newer model helps describe how planet-forming material around stars is "stirred up," making its way into future comets, asteroids, and planets.
The idea of magnetic atmospheres on planet-forming disks isn't new, though this is the first time they have been linked to the mystery of the observed excess infrared light.
Turner and his colleagues believe the magnetic atmospheres are comparable to what occurs on the surface of our sun as well, where the magnetic field lines spur solar prominences to flare up "in big loops," according to the press release.
Astronomers hope to continue refining this model by analyzing more protoplanetary systems through NASA's SOFIA telescope, NASA's James Webb Space telescope, and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) telescope in Chile.
"The starlight-intercepting material lies not in a halo, and not in a traditional disk either, but in a disk atmosphere supported by magnetic fields," said Turner. "Such magnetized atmospheres were predicted to form as the disk drives gas inward to crash onto the growing star."
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