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[from the archives] Using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, a team of astronomers led by the University of Rochester has detected gaps ringing the dusty disks around two very young stars, which suggests that gas-giant planets have formed there. A year ago, these same researchers found evidence of the first "baby planet" around a young star... The new findings in the Sept. 10 issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters not only reinforce the idea that giant planets like Jupiter form much faster than scientists have traditionally expected, but one of the gas-enshrouded stars, called GM Aurigae, is analogous to our own solar system. At a mere 1 million years of age, the star gives a unique window into how our own world may have come into being...

The new "baby planets" live within the clearings they have scoured out in the disks around the stars DM Tauri and GM Aurigae, 420 light years away in the Taurus constellation. These disks have been suspected for several years to have central holes that might be due to planet formation. The new spectra, however, leave no doubt: The gaps are so empty and sharp-edged that planetary formation is by far the most reasonable explanation for their appearance.

The new planets cannot yet be seen directly, but Spitzer's Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) instrument clearly showed that an area of dust surrounding certain stars was missing, strongly suggesting the presence of a planet around each. The dust in a protoplanetary disk is hotter in the center near the star, and so radiates most of its light at shorter wavelengths than the cooler outer reaches of the disk. The IRS Disks team found that there was an abrupt deficit of light radiating at all short infrared wavelengths, strongly suggesting that the central part of the disk was absent. These stars are very young by stellar standards, about a million years old, still surrounded by their embryonic gas disks...
Rapid-born planets present 'baby picture' of our early solar system | Jonathan Sherwood | University of Rochester | September 9, 2005

Artist's conception: Planets sweep away a clearing in mass of dust surrounding a fledgling star.
NASA/JPL-Caltech

The rest of the Spitzer telescope keyword, sorted:

NASA Telescope Reveals Largest Batch of Earth-Size, Habitable-Zone Planets Around Single Star [02/23/2017]
Planet spotted deep within our galaxy: One of the most distant planets known [04/19/2015]
Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Yellow Balls in W33 [02/01/2015]
The Shocking Behavior of a Speedy Star [04/29/2014]
Finding ET in the Data (Hunt for Dyson spheres heats up) [04/17/2013]
Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Infrared Portrait of the Large Magellanic Cloud [03/22/2013]
Astronomy Picture of the Day -- M16: Pillars of Creation [07/22/2012]
Astronomy Picture of the Day -- 21st Century M101 [07/13/2012]
Subaru-Led Team Discovers a Rare Stellar Disk of Quartz Dust [05/20/2012]
Weird World! 'Oozing' Alien Planet Is a Super-Earth Wonder [ 55 Cancri e ] [01/21/2012]
Spitzer detects comet storm in nearby solar system [10/21/2011]
Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Spitzer's Orion [09/17/2011]
Spitzer Detects Shadow of 'Super-Earth' in Front of Nearby Star [05/06/2011]
NASA's Spitzer Reveals First Carbon-Rich Planet [12/09/2010]
Spitzer Sheds Light on Colony of Baby Stars [04/02/2010]
Wild Solar System Spotted Around Distant Star [11/10/2009]
NASA's Spitzer spots clump of planet-forming material around young star [09/27/2009]
Two Planets Collide in Deep Space [08/10/2009]
Eccentric Exoplanet Gets Hot Flashes [ HD 80606b ] [02/03/2009]
Spitzer Captures Stellar Coming of Age in Our Galaxy [06/05/2008]
The Milky Way Gets a Facelift [06/04/2008]
Spitzer's eyes perfect for spotting diamonds in the sky [02/26/2008]
Farthest Galaxy Found, Perhaps (~13 billion light-years away, Hubble and Spitzer images) [02/12/2008]
First Map of an Extrasolar Planet [05/10/2007]
Young Planet Challenges Old Theories [from 2004] [03/04/2007]
Alien Light: Taking The Spectra Of Extrasolar Planets [02/23/2007]
Spitzer Sees Light From Faraway Worlds [02/21/2007]
Waterless planets surprise astronomers [02/21/2007]
The Phase-Dependent Infrared Brightness of the Extrasolar Planet Υ Andromedae b [10/28/2006]
NASA's Spitzer Sees Day and Night on Exotic World [10/13/2006]
Comet compositions show striking differences [10/12/2006]
Scientists snap first images of brown dwarf in planetary system [09/18/2006]
Alien planet poised to reveal all its secrets [ TrES-2 ] [09/09/2006]
It will never work! An idea that changed infrared astronomy from space [08/21/2006]
Planet-Forming Disks Might Put the Brakes on Stars [07/30/2006]
NASA's Spitzer Finds Hints of Planet Birth Around Dead Star [04/07/2006]
Scientists Get Clues on How Planets Form [04/05/2006]
Galaxy on Fire! NASA's Spitzer Reveals Stellar Smoke [03/24/2006]
NASA's Spitzer Finds Violent Galaxies Smothered In 'Crushed Glass' [02/19/2006]
NASA telescope spots two mega solar systems [02/08/2006]
Partial Ingredients For DNA And Protein Found Around Star [12/31/2005]
Spitzer Team Says Debris Disk Could Be Forming Infant Terrestrial Planets [12/15/2005]
Seeing Mountains in Starry Clouds of Creation [11/18/2005]
NASA's Spitzer telescope captures image of young stars [11/09/2005]
Scientists See Light that May Be from First Objects in Universe [11/03/2005]
(Spitzer) Telescope finds planet building blocks around brown space dwarfs [10/20/2005]
Bar at Milky Way's heart revealed [08/16/2005]
New cosmic look may cast doubts on big bang theory [Who Woulda Thunk It] [08/03/2005]
NASA telescope spots ingredients for life in young universe [07/28/2005]
NASA Scientists find galaxies 11 billion light-years away (Spitzer Space Telescope) [03/01/2005]
NASA Spitzer Space Telescope Provides Visual Feast Online [02/25/2005]
Space telescope discovery raises prospect of mini solar systems [02/07/2005]
Spitzer Sees the Aftermath of a Planetary Collision [01/13/2005]
Space Telescopes Spy Dusty Debris of Planets [12/09/2004]
How the Early Universe Got Dusty Remains a Mystery [12/08/2004]
Spitzer telescope sees long, violent history for planet-building [10/18/2004]
Astronomy Picture of the Day 04-14-04 [04/14/2004]
Astronomy Picture of the Day 12-26-03 [12/26/2003]
NASA Releases Dazzling Images from New Space Telescope [12/19/2003]