An international team of astronomers, spearheaded by researchers at Monash University, has announced the discovery of five nascent planets still in the process of forming. This groundbreaking achievement, part of the exoALMA project, provides unprecedented insights into the early stages of planet formation.
The discovery was made possible by an innovative imaging technique developed at Monash University. This technique allows astronomers to detect planets previously hidden by the gas and dust that surround young solar systems. Instead of directly observing the light emitted by these infant planets, the method focuses on identifying disturbances they create in their surrounding environment. Associate Professor Christophe Pinte, the project's primary investigator, likens the approach to "spotting a fish by looking for ripples in a pond".
Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, the exoALMA project has captured images of these previously unseen planets and their solar systems. These newly detected planets are estimated to be only a few million years old, approximately 1,000 times younger than Earth. The findings, published in a special issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters, suggest that planets form rapidly and in dynamic environments. This challenges existing theories and provides crucial clues about the evolution of planetary systems.