The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a spectacular new image of the largest and most unusual protoplanetary disk ever observed around a single star. The object, officially known as IRAS 23077+6707 ...

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A star is born out of a giant cloud of gas and dust collapsing under its own gravity. As gravity pulls the gassy material inwards, some material is left swirling around the star. Over time, the ...

Imagine you want to measure the size of a room, but it’s completely dark. If you shout, you can tell if the space you’re in is relatively big or small, depending on how long it takes to hear the echo ...

Astronomers have long struggled to find young planets hidden inside the thick clouds of gas and dust that swirl around new stars. These swirling clouds—called protoplanetary discs—are the birthplaces ...

In this animation we fly into a protoplanetary disk surrounding a young star. Within the disk, tiny dust grains accumulate layers of ice over thousands of years. These cosmic snowflakes are swept up ...

In the surroundings of a young star located 444 light years away, a team of astronomers found what may be the precursor to life itself. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in ...

Scientists have made the first comprehensive multi-wavelength observational study of an intruder object disturbing the protoplanetary disk—or birthplace of planets—surrounding the Z Canis Majoris star ...

Researchers studying a distant star forming within a dusty cloud have found an abundance of water in its immediate vicinity, which could have implications for the origins of the water in our own solar ...