Ring Around Young Star Leads to Clues and Questions About Space History

(EndPlay Staff Reports) - A ring of carbon monoxide gas around a young star has astronomers scratching their heads.

The ring has been seen around the young star V1052 Cen, which the University of Michigan stated in a press release is about 700 light years away in the southern constellation Centaurus.

It is drawing attention because its edges are very "crisp," and the ring is shaped "more like a rope than a dinner plate," professor emeritus Charles Cowley said.

"It's exciting because this is the most constrained ring we've ever seen, and it requires an explanation," he stated in the release. "At present time, we just don't understand what makes it a rope rather than a dish."

The Daily Mail reported that this is another find of the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope located in Chile. Astronomers are trying to figure out why the gas is not spread throughout the planet-forming disk.

It also has a strong magnetic field and is rotating extremely slow compared to similar stars, Swetiana Hubrig of Germany's Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics stated in the release.

Astronomers suggest possibly magnetic fields or "shepherding planets" similar to several of Saturn's moons are holding the ring in place.

The why of their infatuation with the star and its ring is that understanding such interaction helps astronomers recreate the solar system's history. That is why they keep coming up with more questions such as how permanent is the ring.

The ring gives them what they need to help study such scenarios.

"This star is a gift of nature," Hubrig stated in the release.

The research is published in "Astronomy and Astrophysics."