PLANETS OUTSIDE THE SOLAR SYSTEM MIGHT FORM OUT OF THE DEBRIS CIRCLING A DEAD STAR, RESEARCHERS REPORTED IN THE JOURNAL SCIENCE ON WEDNESDAY AFTER FINDING THE MATERIAL FOR A PLANET NEAR SUCH A BODY. THE FINDING INDICATES THAT PLANET-FORMATION COULD BE MORE COMMON THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT, SAID DEEPTO CHAKRABARTY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. 'WHAT'S REMARKABLE HERE IS THIS PROCESS OF PLANET FORMATION, WHICH WE ASSOCIATE WITH THE BIRTH OF STARS, SEEMS TO ALSO BE ABLE TO OCCUR AT THE END OF THE STELLAR LIFETIME, SORT OF A (REBIRTH) OF THE SYSTEM,' HE TOLD REUTERS. MOST PLANETS ARE THOUGHT TO FORM AROUND YOUNG STARS, LIKE THE EARTH'S SUN, FROM DEBRIS LEFT OVER WHEN THE STAR FORMED. SUCH COSMIC DUST AND GAS SPREADS OUT AROUND THE STAR IN A WIDE RING, AND THE PLANETS ARE MADE WHEN GRAVITY CAUSES THE DEBRIS TO GROUP TOGETHER. THIS OCCURS TYPICALLY WHEN STARTS STILL HAVE MUCH NUCLEAR FUEL AT THEIR CORES. HOWEVER, RESEARCH BY CHAKRABARTY AND HIS COLLEAGUES FOUND A DISK AROUND A PULSAR, THE REMNANT FROM A SPENT STAR WHICH RAN OUT OF NUCLEAR FUEL AND COLLAPSED, THROWING DEBRIS AS IT DIED. USING THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION'S (NASA'S) SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE, AN ORBITING OBSERVATORY THAT TRACKS INFRARED LIGHT, THE TEAM SAW THE DISK AROUND A PULSAR ABOUT 13,000 LIGHT YEARS FROM EARTH, IN THE CONSTELLATION CASSIOPEIA. --SP 11 41 LOCAL TIME 08 41 GMT
