Clouds of dust and gas not far from our solar system are giving astronomers a rare glimpse into the earliest stages of planet formation.
These clouds, which are between 200,000 and 500,000 years old and lie within 700 light-years of Earth, have been spotted hosting dusty, gas-rich disks around a central star — the birthplaces of planets. Photos of these features, captured by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), were unveiled on Monday (Jan. 8) at the American Astronomical Society conference being held in New Orleans and online.
