A pair of protostars in a binary system has three different disks of planet-forming material, including complex organic molecules. Cue planet formation.
Astronomers have watched the young binary star system SVS 13 for decades. Astronomers don’t know much about how planets form around proto-binary stars like SVS 13, and the earliest stages are especially mysterious. A new study based on three decades of research reveals three potentially planet-forming disks around the binary star.
“Our results have revealed that each star has a disk of gas and dust around it and that, in addition, a larger disk is forming around both stars,” said Díaz-Rodríguez. “This outer disk shows a spiral structure that is feeding matter into the individual disks, and in all of them, planetary systems could form in the future. This is clear evidence for the presence of disks around both stars and the existence of a common disk in a binary system.
When astronomers started observing SVS 13 years ago, optical observations showed a single star. But when radio telescopes observed the system, it became clear it was a close binary. “Normally, stellar embryos are detected in radio, but they only become visible at the end of the gestation process. It was very strange to discover a pair of twin stars where one of them seemed to have evolved much faster than the other,” said Anglada. Not only is VLA 4B more massive than its partner, but its disk appears to be thicker too.
This figure from the study highlights what appear to be the spiral arms of a disk surrounding SVS 13 and feeding material into the two smaller disks. The image on the right is the same as on the left but with different intensities to highlight the arms. S1 and S2 are pretty clearly defined spirals, but for S3, it is unclear whether it is a spiral arm or a feature of the northern part of the circumbinary disk. Image Credit: Díaz-Rodríguez et al. 2022.
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