CNN —For the first time, astronomers have glimpsed a young star outside the Milky Way galaxy that’s ringed by a dense disk where planets may form.
The massive star, called HH 1177, and its rotating disk were spotted in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighboring dwarf galaxy that’s about 160,000 light-years away.
The gas and dust accumulate in a flat disk around the star, known as an accretion disk, as a result of strong gravitational forces.
The Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer, or MUSE instrument, on the telescope captured a jet of material releasing from the young star.
To discern whether a disk was present around the star, the team needed to measure how quickly dense gas moved around the star.
Persons:
”, Anna McLeod, ” McLeod, McLeod, Jonathan Henshaw, aren’t, “
Organizations:
CNN, Durham University, Southern, ESO, Liverpool John Moores University
Locations:
ALMA, United Kingdom, Chile