UX Tau A

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UX Tau A is a relatively young star system located approximately 450 light years from our own. It is notable for the fact that, despite its recent (in stellar terms) creation, the Spitzer Space Telescope discovered that its protoplanetary disk contains a gap. The dust, which normally accumulates in an expanding ring starting right next to the star at such a young age, is either very thin or nonexistent at a range of 0.2 to 56 AU from the star. Typically this means that the early ancestors of planet may be forming from the disk, though the star only ignited about 1 million years ago. ^[1] In contrast, Earth was formed approximately 4.54 billion years ago, placing its formation about six million years after the Sun's ignition around 4.6 billion years ago.

[edit] References

1. ^ NASA - Youthful Star Sprouts Planets Early