Outreach
Below you find a list of press releases highlighting our science results over the years:
ESO Press Release 1604: The Deep-Frozen Flying Saucer
An image of Flying Saucer (2MASS J16281370-2431391) protoplanetary disk at visual wavelengths. The disk is seen nearly perfectly edge-on. The dark lane is produced by dust grains located in the center of the disk that absorbs the light from the central star. The bright symmetric cones are stellar radiation scattered by dust particles above the disk midplane. Credit: ESO
Astronomers have used the ALMA and IRAM telescopes to make the first direct measurement of the temperature of the large dust grains in the outer parts of a planet-forming disc around a young star. By applying a novel technique to observations of an object nicknamed the Flying Saucer they find that the grains are much colder than expected: −266 degrees Celsius. This surprising result suggests that models of these discs may need to be revised.
Read the full story at the ESO Portal.