astronomy

PDS 110

PDS 110 is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand PDS 110 rather than just read about it. In short: PDS 110 is a young 11th magnitude star located approximately 1,130 light-years (350 parsecs) away in the constellation Orion. A series of eclipses was observed in 2008 and 2011, which may have been caused by dust from the star's circumstellar disk.

Key takeaways

PDS 110 belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect PDS 110 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of PDS 110 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

PDS 110 is a young 11th magnitude star located approximately 1,130 light-years (350 parsecs) away in the constellation Orion. A series of eclipses was observed in 2008 and 2011, which may have been caused by dust from the star's circumstellar disk.

Description PDS 110 is a young star still approaching the main sequence. It has been classified as a T Tauri star, or as a pre-main sequence star. The emission lines indicative of a T Tauri classification are somewhat weaker than a typical T Tauri star, interpreted as a post-T Tauri stage. PDS 110 hosts a circumstellar disk.

2008-2011 eclipses

Brightness measurements from SuperWASP and KELT showed two similar reductions in brightness in November 2008 and January 2011, both with a maximal luminosity reduction of 30% and a duration of 25 days. These events were interpreted as transits of a structure with a period of 808 ± 2 days, corresponding to an orbital distance of about 2 AU. The large reduction in brightness could have happened due to a planet or brown dwarf with a circum-secondary disk of dust with a radius of 0.3 AU around a central object with a mass between 1.8 and 70 times the mass of Jupiter. Another transit was predicted for September 2017, but nothing similar to the previous events was seen, ruling out a periodic event. A search of 50 years of archival data also did not find any similar eclipses. The eclipses may have been caused by dust around PDS 110 itself. Larger-scale aperiodic dimmings have been observed as UX Orionis variables, and PDS 110 may be similar. An independent 2021 study, assuming that the eclipses were caused by a ringed object in orbit around the star, attempted to constrain the properties of such an object, with their preferred solution being a >35 MJ brown dwarf on a nearly circular orbit. However, this does not explain the fact that no eclipse was observed in 2017.

See also Disrupted planet List of stars that have unusual dimming periods

References

External links Giant ringed planet likely cause of mysterious stellar eclipses

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with PDS 110

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what PDS 110 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to PDS 110 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about PDS 110 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of PDS 110

In research: PDS 110 appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses PDS 110 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: PDS 110 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics F-type subgiants, Henry Draper Catalogue objects, IRAS catalogue objects, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for PDS 110 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study PDS 110 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what PDS 110 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain PDS 110 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is PDS 110 in simple terms?

Why does PDS 110 matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study PDS 110?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on PDS 110.