Willard Wilson AwardHonolulu’s Kenneth Kato honored for exemplary service to the university. Read more
New Solar SystemsManoa researchers Rita Mann and Jonathan Williams discover a pair of solar systems in the making. Read more
Hilo’s Analytical Equipment ExperiencePharmacy and chemistry students work with instrument that examines the internal structure and properties of bulk material. Read more
Board ReportRegents approve amendment to policy on nondiscrimination and affirmative action and the charter of the Puko'a Council. Read more
Samoan Language CoursebookUH Press publishes Gagana Samoa: A Samoan Language Coursebook, revised edition. Read more
UH EventsManoa, Kapi'olani and Hilo’s aquaponics lecture and Honolulu’s MELE songwriters workshop. Read more
Left: Submillimeter Array image of 253-1536 taken at a wavelength of 880 microns. Photo from University of Hawai‘i. Right: The optical image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Photo by Nathan Smith.
New Solar Systems
Manoa doctoral student Rita Mann and Associate Astronomer Jonathan Williams, using the Submillimeter Array on Mauna Kea, found a binary star-disk system in which each star is surrounded by the kind of dust disk that is frequently the precursor of a planetary system. The discovery was published in the Astrophyiscal Journal Letters.
A binary star system consists of two stars bound together by gravity that orbit a common center of gravity. Most stars form as binaries, and if both stars are hospitable to planet formation, it increases the likelihood that scientists will discover Earth-like planets.
This binary system, 253-1536, stands out as the first known example of two optically visible stars, each surrounded by a disk with enough mass to form a planetary system like our own. It lies 1,300 light-years from Earth, in the famous Orion Nebula, the kind of rich cluster of stars that is a common birth environment for most stars in our Milky Way galaxy, including our sun.