Our Solar System originated in a cloud of interstellar gas and amorphous dust, but cometary dust is mainly crystalline—and it is not clear how this crystallization occurred. The outburst spectrum of the young solar-like star EX Lupi shows mid-infrared features, attributed to crystalline forsterite, that were not present in quiescence, suggesting that crystals were produced via thermal annealing by heat from the outburst. This represents a new mechanism of crystal formation in protoplanetary disks.
- P. Ábrahám
- A. Juhász
- N. Sipos