May 27th, 2003del.icio.us Digg Reddit StumbleUpon
Some Planets Could Form In Just 3 Million Years
Written by Fraser Cain
An Earth-like planet could come together from a cloud of dust in as short as 3 million years according to a new report from researchers in Florida and Michigan. By studying the pre-planetary disks that form around other stars, the astronomers noticed that the disks form around young stars when they're 1 million years old, but few stay longer than 3 million years, and none are present at 6 million years. This means that rocky planets, like the Earth, had to have formed during that time. Astronomers previously believed it took 10 million years for planets to form.
Filed under: Extrasolar Planets
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