Birth of planet captured by Chilean telescope

Birth of planet captured by Chilean telescope

 Some of the most detailed images ever taken of new planets being born around a star have been published, which astronomers said could transform theories about planet formation.

High in the Chilean desert, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillmeter Array, or Alma, observed the planet-forming disc around the young HL Tauri star, producing the sharpest pictures ever made at submillimeter wavelengths. The pictures show clear concentric rings in the dust left over from the formation of the star, the gaps indicating that planets are already forming, sweeping a path through the material.