Protoplanetary Disk (IMAGE)
Caption
This image taken with the HiCIAO planet-hunter camera on Subaru Telescope shows a bright arc of scattered light (white) from the protoplanetary disk around the young star LkCa 15 (center, masked out with a dark circle). The arc's sharp inner edge traces the outline of a wide gap in the disk. The gap is decidedly lopsided -- it is markedly wider on the left side -- and has most likely been carved out of the disk by one or more newborn planets that orbit the star.
Credit
MPIA (Christian Thalmann) & NAOJ
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