Astronomers May Have Spotted Distant Baby Planet's Birth, A Cosmic First
Planetary Natal Disc This artist's impression shows the disc around the young star T Cha. The disc has two parts, a narrow ring close to the star and the remainder of the disc material much further out. A companion object, seen in the foreground, has been detected in the gap in the disc, which may be either a brown dwarf or a large planet. European Southern Observatory Scientists think they have seen a baby planet swirling to life around a very young sun-like star, about 350 light years from Earth in the southern constellation Chameleon. If they can confirm their discovery, it would be the earliest picture yet of a natal planetary system, further illuminating how planets are born. Using the Very Large Telescope, astronomers were looking at a star called T Chamaeleontis, or T Cha, which is surrounded by a disc of dust and gas. They noticed a gap in the...