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Planets are thought to form in the gas and dust disks around young stars. In particular, it has been proposed that giant planets can form through the gravitational instability of massive extended disks around intermediate-mass stars. However, we still lack direct observations to constrain this mechanism. We have spatially resolved the 8.6 and 11.2 $mu$m emission of a massive protoplanetary disk seen edge on around an A star, Gomezs Hamburger (GoHam), using VISIR at the Very Large Telescope. A compact region situated at a projected distance of $350pm50$ AU south of the central star is found to have a reduced emission.This asymmetry is fully consistent with the presence of a cold density structure, or clump, identified in earlier CO observations, and we derive physical characteristics consistent with those observations: a mass of 0.8-11.4 Jupiter masses (for a dust-to-gas mass ratio of 0.01), a radius of about 10$^2$ astronomical units, and a local density of about $10^{7}$ cm$^{-3}$. Based on this evidence, we argue that this clump, which we call GoHam b, is a promising candidate for a young protoplanet formed by gravitational instability that might be representative of the precursors of massive planets observed around A stars, such as HR 8799 or Beta pictoris. More detailed studies at high angular resolution are needed to better constrain the physical properties of this object to confirm this proposal.
We present high-contrast observations of the circumstellar environment of the Herbig Ae/Be star HD100546. The final 3.8 micron image reveals an emission source at a projected separation of 0.48+-0.04 (corresponding to ~47+-4 AU at a position angle of
Unraveling the 3D physical structure, the temperature and density distribution, of protoplanetary discs is an essential step if we are to confront simulations of embedded planets or dynamical instabilities. In this paper we focus on Submillimeter Arr
We study the nature of Gomezs Hamburger (IRAS 18059-3211), a nebula that has been proposed to be a post-AGB object. Such a classification is not confirmed; instead, we argue that it will be a key object in the study of disks rotating around young sta
Observations of circumstellar environments to look for the direct signal of exoplanets and the scattered light from disks has significant instrumental implications. In the past 15 years, major developments in adaptive optics, coronagraphy, optical ma
An outstanding, multi-disciplinary goal of modern science is the study of the diversity of potentially Earth-like planets and the search for life in them. This goal requires a bold new generation of space telescopes, but even the most ambitious desig