This image from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array at the European Souther Observatory in Chile reveals extraordinarily fine detail that has never been seen before in the planet-forming disc around a young star, in this case, HL Tauri. This is one of the sharpest pictures ever made at submillimetre wavelengths. It’s an enormous step forward in the observation of how protoplanetary discs develop and how planets form.

HL Tauri’s disc appears much more developed than would be expected from the age of the system, suggesting that the planet-formation process may be faster than previously thought. Young stars are born in clouds of gas and fine dust which have collapsed under the effects of gravitation. The dense hot cores eventually ignite to become young stars. These young stars are initially cocooned in the remaining gas and dust, which eventually settles into a protoplanetary disc.

Image Credit: ESO