Yet more keen links one might want to share

[glatt]

Best image yet of planets being formed.

This image was made by ALMA, an array of radio telescopes in Chile. Those dark rings in the cloud are areas around the star where matter is clumping together into planets, pulling more nearby matter out of the cloud disk.

Once these planetary bodies acquire enough mass, they dramatically reshape the structure of their natal disk, fashioning rings and gaps as the planets sweep their orbits clear of debris and shepherd dust and gas into tighter and more confined zones.

The new ALMA image reveals these striking features in exquisite detail, providing the clearest picture to date of planet formation. Images with this level of detail were previously only seen in computer models and artist concepts. ALMA, living up to its promise, has now provided direct proof that nature and theory are very much in agreement.