January 12, 2013

Artist’s impression of the disc of gas and cosmic dust around the young star HD 142527 with streams of gas flowing across the gap in the disc (Image ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/M. Kornmesser (ESO)/Nick Risinger (skysurvey.org))

Using the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter / submillimeter Array) telescope, an international team of astronomers has made the first direct observation of the formation of two gaseous planets around the star HD 142527. It’s a star that’s young in astronomical terms, with an age of about two million years more than 450 light years away from Earth.