July 15, 2025
Teeny Tiny Eyes
Timothy Birdnow
I'm sorry but how are we seeing milimeter-sized pebbles around another star? Does anyone else think these scientists are just making huge assumptions?
A Solar System Is Born: Planet-Forming "Pebbles” Detected Around Two Distant Young Stars
FTA:
How do they know for certain the images they are seeing is at DG Tau and HL Tau and not in the intervening 2.645 × 10¹5 miles?
Increasingly science isn't about knowlege but about creativity. The more a scientist can devise a grand concept with less than perfect accuracy the more attention he gets - and the more money his university or institute receives.
Here are the weasel words:
Soooo....theis is an unrepeateable experiment. Only one radio telescope can do it! No way to verify this.
Here's more on how it worked:
I get that, but I also get there are undoubtedly many other things that could impact this radio telescope's readings. This is like measurements of the size of Pluto back in the forties; they were wildly variable (because Pluto had a satellite that couldn't be discerned from Pluto). So Pluto was believed to be bigger than Earth by some and much smaller by others; it seemed to change over time.
Yes, our technology is much better now than then, but I still wonder if we aren't being fooled here.
I am willing to admit it's possibly correct, and even celebrate it, but I wish scientists would qualify what they say rather than make these bold, confident claims. It may well be just a sensor error. (Anyone remember when they said neutrinos moved faster than light? Turns out it ws just an error in the lag time between the satellite and the ground station.)
I'm sorry but how are we seeing milimeter-sized pebbles around another star? Does anyone else think these scientists are just making huge assumptions?
A Solar System Is Born: Planet-Forming "Pebbles” Detected Around Two Distant Young Stars
FTA:
Researchers identified these protoplanetary discs, the regions where planets begin to form, extending as far as Neptune-like distances around the stars DG Tau and HL Tau, located roughly 450 light-years from Earth.
Announced at the Royal Astronomical Society’s National Astronomy Meeting 2025 in Durham, the findings provide valuable insights into a previously elusive stage of planet development.
"These observations show that discs like DG Tau and HL Tau already contain large reservoirs of planet-forming pebbles out to at least Neptune-like orbits,” said researcher Dr Katie Hesterly, of the SKA Observatory.
"This is potentially enough to build planetary systems larger than our own solar system.”
Announced at the Royal Astronomical Society’s National Astronomy Meeting 2025 in Durham, the findings provide valuable insights into a previously elusive stage of planet development.
"These observations show that discs like DG Tau and HL Tau already contain large reservoirs of planet-forming pebbles out to at least Neptune-like orbits,” said researcher Dr Katie Hesterly, of the SKA Observatory.
"This is potentially enough to build planetary systems larger than our own solar system.”
How do they know for certain the images they are seeing is at DG Tau and HL Tau and not in the intervening 2.645 × 10¹5 miles?
Increasingly science isn't about knowlege but about creativity. The more a scientist can devise a grand concept with less than perfect accuracy the more attention he gets - and the more money his university or institute receives.
Here are the weasel words:
Currently, e-MERLIN is the only radio telescope with the resolution and sensitivity needed to investigate protoplanetary discs—the birthplaces of planets—with the necessary scientific precision.
"Through these observations, we’re now able to investigate where solid material gathers in these discs, providing insight into one of the earliest stages of planet formation,” said Professor Greaves.
"Through these observations, we’re now able to investigate where solid material gathers in these discs, providing insight into one of the earliest stages of planet formation,” said Professor Greaves.
Soooo....theis is an unrepeateable experiment. Only one radio telescope can do it! No way to verify this.
Here's more on how it worked:
For that reason, because centimeter-sized pebbles emit best at wavelengths similar to their size, the UK interferometer e-MERLIN is ideal to look for these because it can observe at around 4 cm wavelength.
In one new e-MERLIN image of DG Tau’s disc, it reveals that centimetre-sized pebbles have already formed out to Neptune-like orbits, while a similar collection of planetary seeds has also been detected encircling HL Tau.
These discoveries offer an early glimpse of what the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) telescope in South Africa and Australia will uncover in the coming decade with its improved sensitivity and scale, paving the way to study protoplanetary discs across the galaxy in unprecedented detail.
In one new e-MERLIN image of DG Tau’s disc, it reveals that centimetre-sized pebbles have already formed out to Neptune-like orbits, while a similar collection of planetary seeds has also been detected encircling HL Tau.
These discoveries offer an early glimpse of what the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) telescope in South Africa and Australia will uncover in the coming decade with its improved sensitivity and scale, paving the way to study protoplanetary discs across the galaxy in unprecedented detail.
I get that, but I also get there are undoubtedly many other things that could impact this radio telescope's readings. This is like measurements of the size of Pluto back in the forties; they were wildly variable (because Pluto had a satellite that couldn't be discerned from Pluto). So Pluto was believed to be bigger than Earth by some and much smaller by others; it seemed to change over time.
Yes, our technology is much better now than then, but I still wonder if we aren't being fooled here.
I am willing to admit it's possibly correct, and even celebrate it, but I wish scientists would qualify what they say rather than make these bold, confident claims. It may well be just a sensor error. (Anyone remember when they said neutrinos moved faster than light? Turns out it ws just an error in the lag time between the satellite and the ground station.)
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
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