TW Hydrae Protoplanet

S. Andrews (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA); B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF); ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)
March 31, 2016
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protoplanetary disc
S. Andrews (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA); B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF); ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)

The inner region of the TW Hydrae protoplanetary disk as imaged by ALMA. The image has a resolution of 1 AU (Astronomical Unit, the distance from the Earth to the Sun in our own Solar System). This new ALMA image reveals a gap in the disk at 1 AU, suggesting that a planet with the same orbit as Earth is forming there.

Credit: S. Andrews (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA); B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF); ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)