First evidence for "comet factory" - ORF.at

“It is very likely that we will look at a kind of comet factory.” With these words, a team of astronomers with the participation of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching and the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics at the Centre for Astronomy at the University of Heidelberg one not only in professional circles seemingly spectacular discovery described.

Specifically

was taken around a young star in the dust particles can grow slowly when they clump together with the Atacama Large Millimeter / submillimeter Array (ALMA) is a region. This allowed such a dust trap for the first time be clearly observed and modeled, such as the one involved in the ALMA project European Southern Observatory (ESO) announced.

could be achieved

therefore also “the long years conundrum, such as dust particles can grow to larger objects around young stars in the disks from which eventually comets, planets and other bodies are made of rock,” the ESO with reference to in the journal “Science” published findings.