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Astronomy

How Protoplanetary Disks Become Planetary Systems via Disk Winds

Quick fact

Magnetic disk winds—not just radiation or heat—are a primary agent in clearing protoplanetary disks. As the disk rotates, its magnetic field launches a wind that carries away mass and angular momentum, causing the disk to thin out and fade in just a few million years, a timescale that shapes what kind of planets can form.

Why this is interesting

Every star begins surrounded by a swirling disk of gas and dust, but after a few million years it mysteriously disappears. What does that vanishing act have to do with the birth of planets?