Year of the Comet
Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS)

PANSTARRS information

Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON)

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Web Extras

How protoplanets create gaps in dusty disks

Watch as a new planet forms and cuts a gap in the dusty disk of its birth. Understanding the details of this process could help explain the evolution of solar systems.
By Daniel Pendick
Published: December 29, 2008
Researcher Phil Armitage of the University of Colorado at Boulder created a computer model to simulate how a small gas planet forms in the disk of dust and gas around a young sun, clearing a gap in the process.
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