Using data from NASA's Chandra Xray and the now-defunct Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have identified the least likely and most risky regions for planet formation in a star cluster. This data helped to show the dangerous areas where planets are least likely to form.

Chandra's purple data shows scattered X-ray emission and young stars in the Cygnus OB2 star cluster. Spitzer's infrared data in red, green, blue and cyan hues reveals more young stars, as well as cooler gas and dust in the region.

In such a dense environment, the amount of high-energy radiation emitted by stars and planets is quite high. X-rays combined with strong ultraviolet light have the potential to destroy planetary disks and developing systems.

Image description:

The Cygnus OB2 star cluster resembles a night sky shrouded in orange, purple and gray clouds. A purple haze dominates the center of the square image. This haze represents scattered X-ray emissions and young stars detected by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Surrounding the purple haze is a mottled, streaked, brick-orange cloud. Another cloud, resembling a gray tendril of smoke, extends from our lower left toward the center of the image. These clouds represent the relatively cold dust and gas observed by the Spitzer Space Telescope. Although the nested clouds cover most of the image, the thousands of stars in the cluster shine brightly. Low-mass stars appear as tiny specks of light. The massive stars shine brightly, some with long refractive spikes.

 

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Drake et al: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Spitzer; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk