Free Astronomy Magazine January-February 2015

39 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2015 PLANETOLOGY A lmost two years ago, the array of 66 antennas that form the Atacama Large Millimeter/submil- limeter Array (ALMA) became fully operational, but the wide range of possible configurations with which it can be utilized has so far only provided a taste of the enormous potential of this instrument. As also suggested by its name, ALMA observes the sky at milli- meter and submillimeter wavelengths; a little-studied domain in which, though, occur phenomena of funda- mental importance to our understanding of the uni- verse surrounding us. One such phenomena is the for- mation of planetary systems around very young stars, a process that occurs in space regions rich in gas and dust of various origins. Observing what happens in those environments has been for a long time impossible, as the very presence (almost) y image