Planet-Forming Disks Lose Gas Faster than Dust, New Survey Finds

Why giant planets might form faster than we thought

Astronomers using ALMA have uncovered how gas and dust in planet-forming disks evolve separately an insight that reshapes our understanding of how different types of planets form. While dust lingers, gas dissipates quickly, narrowing the window for the formation of gas giants like Jupiter.

Planet-forming disks lose gas faster than dust, new survey finds

An international team of astronomers including researchers at the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory has unveiled groundbreaking findings about the disks of gas and dust surrounding nearby young stars, using the powerful Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, or ALMA.

ALMA Reveals Lives of Planet-Forming Disks

An international team of astronomers has unveiled groundbreaking findings about the disks of gas and dust surrounding nearby young stars, using the powerful Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). These results, published in 12 papers in a focus issue of the Astrophysical Journal, are part of an ALMA large program called the ALMA Survey of Gas Evolution of PROtoplanetary Disks, or AGE-PRO. AGE-PRO observed 30 protoplanetary disks ar…