HD163296

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  • LMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO); A. Isella; B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF)

    Exoplanets may have carved dusty tracks around a young star

    by 
    Steve Dent
    Steve Dent
    12.28.2016

    Astronomers have spotted what they believe are two Saturn-sized planets carving "tracks" through a young star's protoplanetary disk. Although scientists have found plenty of exoplanets ranging from gas giants like Jupiter to rocky, Earth-like worlds, most orbit mature stars. However, the not-yet-fully-formed worlds imaged by the ALMA telescope array show that stars can possibly spawn planets at an earlier age than previously thought.