Radio telescope captures most detailed view ever of planetary birth

A huge radio telescope in Chile has captured the best-ever image of planets forming around a distant star, researchers say. The spectacular view of planet birth, taken by the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) in northern Chile, shows numerous concentric rings in the disk of dust and gas surrounding HL Tau, a sun-like star found about 450 light-years away from Earth. The image is sharper than most photos taken in visible light by NASA’s famous Hubble Space Telescope, since ALMA was able to pierce through the star’s veil with much longer wavelengths that fall between the radio and infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The fact that we can see planets being born will help us understand not only how planets form around other stars, but also the origin of our own solar system.

Crystal Brogan, NRAO astronomer

Science planet birth