SPHERE reveals fascinating zoo of discs around young stars

The SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile allows astronomers to suppress the brilliant light of nearby stars in order to obtain a better view of the regions surrounding them. This collection of new SPHERE images is just a sample of the wide variety of dusty discs being found around young stars.

These discs are wildly different in size and shape—some contain bright rings, some dark rings, and some even resemble hamburgers. They also differ dramatically in appearance depending on their orientation in the sky—from circular face-on discs to narrow discs seen almost edge-on.

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Credit: ESO/H. Avenhaus et al./E. Sissa et al./DARTT-S and SHINE collaborations

New images from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope are revealing the dusty discs surrounding nearby young stars in greater detail than previously achieved. They show a bizarre variety of shapes, sizes and structures, including the likely effects of planets still in the process of forming.

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The SPHERE instrument on Very Large Telescope has the ability to “suppress the brilliant light of nearby stars,” according to European Southern Observatory. It has delivered imagery on a wide array of young stars and the dusty disks that surround them.