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The formation of planets

Astronomers have found water vapor in the disk around a young star right where planets are likely to form. In this image, the new observations from the ESO partner Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) show the water vapor in shades of blue. Near the center of the disc, where the young star lives, the environment is hotter and the gas is brighter. The red rings are previous ALMA observations showing the distribution of dust around the star.Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Facchini et al.

Astronomers discover a new connection between water and the formation of planets

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An amount of water at least three times greater than the water in all the Earth's oceans was discovered in the inner disk of the young Sun-like star HL Tauri, 450 light-years away from Earth, in the Taurus group
Imaginary illustration of an extrasolar gas giant as seen from one of its moons. Illustration: shutterstock

A giant planet orbiting a red dwarf blurs the line between large planets and small stars

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Early evidence for extrasolar planets in century-old photographic plates

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Artist's rendering of a red dwarf and a gas giant type planet surrounding it. Photo: DAVID A. AGUILAR (CFA/HARVARD-SMITHSONIAN)

Young red dwarfs may teach us how planets form

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