Astronomy

A newborn planet munches on gas and dust surrounding its host star

It’s the first time a young planet has been seen shaping rings of gas and dust

A bullseye shape with alternating rings of white glowing dust and empty space. A reddish dot — a newborn planet — sits in a ring of empty space.

Astronomers spotted a growing newborn planet (reddish dot) chowing down on the gas and dust (white) surrounding a young star (center, not shown), as seen in this composite photo made from polarized light and infrared light images.

ESO, R.F. van Capelleveen et al/Astrophysical Journal Letters 2025

By McKenzie Prillaman

A hungry newborn planet is eating away at a disk of gas and dust around a young star, researchers report in two studies in the Sept.