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    ALMA observes the Formation Sites of Solar-system-like planets

    March 17, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    ALMA image of the dusty disk around the young star DM Tau
    ALMA image of the dusty disk around the young star DM Tau. You can see two concentric rings where planets may be forming. 
    Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), Kudo et al.

    Researchers have spotted the formation sites of planets around a young star resembling our Sun. Two rings of dust around the star, at distances comparable to the asteroid belt and the orbit of Neptune in our Solar System, suggest that we are witnessing the formation of a planetary system similar to our own.

    The Solar System is thought to have formed from a cloud of cosmic gas and dust 4.6 billion years ago. By studying young planetary systems forming around other stars, astronomers hope to learn more about our own origins.

    Tomoyuki Kudo, an astronomer at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), and his ...

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