Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered that planet-forming disks in the Orion nebula actually surround “failed stars,” or brown dwarfs. This is the first confirmation that planet-forming, flattened clouds of gas and dust called “protoplanetary disks” surround these peculiar cosmic objects. The team discovered this while using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to follow up on observations of protoplanetary disks, or “proplyds,” illuminated by ultraviolet light in the Orion Nebula. Those observations were collected by the Hubble Space Telescope. These findings could help scientists understand how…
Read MoreCan ‘failed stars’ have planets? James Webb Space Telescopes offers clues
