Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/RIT/J.Kastner et al; Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss

A new study of the TW Hya association suggests that young stars much less massive than the Sun can unleash a torrent of X-rays, which can significantly shorten the lifetime of disks surrounding them. These disks, as depicted in this artist's illustration, are where planets will ultimately form so scientists may have to revisit the star formation process and the early lives of planets around such faint stars. This new finding is based on Chandra observations of TW Hya, a sample of which is seen in the inset, and data from several other telescopes.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2016/twhya/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html