When The Undertones sang about “Teenage Kicks,” they could have been hinting at the wild, chaotic times of young planets forming. These periods are marked by collisions and the formation of moons and other celestial bodies, like the one that led to the creation of our Moon.
Now, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have captured images showing the tumultuous “teenage years” of planets around young stars. This breakthrough comes from the Resolve exoKuiper belt Substructures (ARKS) survey, and it sheds light on the dramatic history of our own solar system.
“We’ve often seen the ‘baby pictures’ of planets forming, but the ‘teenage years’ have been a missing link,” said Meredith Hughes from Wesleyan University. “This project helps us understand everything from lunar craters to the dynamics of the Kuiper Belt,” she noted. It’s like discovering long-lost pages in the story of our solar system.
Hughes and her team used 66 radio telescopes in northern Chile to examine 24 dusty disks surrounding infant stars. These disks are remnants of the messy process where planets collide and form. “Debris discs represent the chaotic phase of planet formation,” explained Thomas Henning from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. “With ALMA, we can study these structures and search for young planets.”
The Kuiper Belt, a ring of icy comets beyond Neptune, contains objects formed by massive collisions billions of years ago, around the same time the Moon was created. The clues to our solar system’s past can be found in these tiny remnants.
Capturing images of young planets is usually straightforward because they form in bright gas-rich disks. In contrast, debris disks like those observed by ALMA are much fainter, making them challenging to study. ALMA’s advanced technology measured radio emissions from dust and molecules, providing detailed views of these disks’ structures. The findings show a mix of rings, halos, and unexpected clumps—an indication of a dynamic and violent history.
“We’re seeing real diversity—these are not just simple rings but complex structures that reveal a tumultuous past,” said Sebastián Marino from the University of Exeter. This level of detail is possible because ALMA’s multiple antennas give us a broader view than any single telescope.
This discovery shows that the young planetary systems are like teenagers—volatile and prone to change. “These disks reflect a time when planetary orbits were chaotic and massive impacts, like the one that formed the Moon, were shaping these systems,” noted Luca Matrà of Trinity College Dublin.
The research is not just a glimpse into the past; it could influence our understanding of planetary formation. According to a recent study, about 70% of stars form with planetary systems, indicating that these chaotic teenage years are a common experience in the universe. You can read more about this fascinating research in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
