'Death stars' in Orion blast planets before they even form
Monday, March 10, 2014 - 12:30
in Astronomy & Space
Astronomers have studied the often deadly relationship between highly luminous O-type stars and nearby protostars in the Orion Nebula. Their data reveal that protostars within 0.1 light-years (about 600 billion miles) of an O-type star are doomed to have their cocoons of dust and gas stripped away in just a few millions years, much faster than planets are able to form.