New discoveries ALMA studies ‘pregnant’ clouds in the Milky Way

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ALMA finds evidence for baby planets around a young star

A young star in the constellation Sagittarius (the Archer) is orbited by two infant planets. The planets were found by ALMA. They’re about twice as large as the planet Saturn in our own solar system. Planets orbiting other stars have been found before. But in this case, the planets...

Planets grow from very small but ‘fluffy’ dust particles

Just like a large tree grows from a tiny seed, planets grow from tiny dust particles. First, the dust particles stick together to larger and larger ‘dust bunnies’. Later on, they grow into pebbles and rocks. Those larger objects feel each other’s gravity and eventually clutter together into planets. ...

Infalling gas creates a galaxy’s ‘eyelids’

Many galaxies are beautiful spirals, but IC 2163 is different. This galaxy looks a bit like a huge eye. The spiral arms are like giant eyelids, surrounding a central pupil. Using ALMA, astronomers have now discovered what’s going on here. IC 2163 is not alone. Close to it is...

Astronomers witness the birth of a stellar triple

Many stars are single, just like our own Sun. But there are also many twins and even triples in the Universe – two or three stars that were born together and keep each other company. Using ALMA, astronomers have now witnessed the birth of a triple star system. The...

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