Produced by: Tarun Mishra
Using the Chandra X-ray Observatory and data from the retired Spitzer Space Telescope, NASA astronomers identified hazardous regions where planets struggle to form around young stars.
Credit: NASA
The observations were centred on Cygnus OB2, a large star cluster about 4,600 light-years away, containing massive stars alongside thousands of lower-mass stars.
By compiling long-term images from Chandra and Spitzer, researchers created a detailed mosaic showing high-energy X-rays emitted between stars, enabling a comprehensive inventory of young stars in the cluster.
The study highlighted that high-energy ultraviolet and X-ray radiation from massive stars disrupts the protoplanetary disks of gas and dust around young stars, which are essential for planet formation.
Credit: University of Copenhagen/Lars Buchhave
This radiation causes disk material to evaporate—a process called photoevaporation. Disk winds then push this evaporated matter away, accelerating disk depletion and reducing planet formation potential.
Credit: NASA
For stars similar to the Sun, protoplanetary disks can last 5-10 million years. However, in Cygnus OB2, high-energy radiation from massive stars speeds up this depletion, shortening the window for planet formation.
Credit: NASA
Disk retention rates differed across Cygnus OB2. In less crowded regions, 40% of young stars still have disks, whereas in denser regions with more radiation, this drops to 18%, and in some areas, as low as 1%.
Credit: chandra x-ray observatory
Another study using Chandra data showed high-energy X-rays in Cygnus OB2 are generated by disk wind collisions from massive stars, further highlighting the turbulent conditions that hinder planet formation in these 'danger zones.'