Glossary

Protoplanetary Disk

A protoplanetary disk is the rotating platter of gas and dust around a young star out of which planets form. Dust grains collide and stick, growing into pebbles, boulders, and eventually planets, sometimes carving visible gaps and rings as they sweep up material. Direct images of disks like the one around WISPIT 2, and the largest known disk nicknamed Dracula's Chivito, let astronomers watch planet formation in progress, the same process that built our own solar system.

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