Free Astronomy Magazine January-February 2025

32 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2025 ASTRO PUBLISHING To their surprise, they found evi- dence of gaps and rings in most of the disks—structures commonly as- sociated with the formation of giant planets, like Jupiter. “We expected the high levels of ra- diation in this cluster to inhibit planet formation in the outer re- gions of these disks,” said lead author Jane Huang. “But instead, we’re seeing signs that planets may be forming at distances of tens of astronomical units from their stars, Planets can form under harsh radiation N ew observations from the At- acama Large Millimeter/sub- millimeter Array (ALMA) suggest that planet formation can occur even in harsh stellar environ- ments previously thought to be in- hospitable. An international team of astronomers used ALMA to cap- ture high-resolution images of eight protoplanetary disks in the Sigma Orionis cluster, which is irra- diated by intense ultraviolet light from a massive nearby star. by National Radio Astronomy Observatory A rtist concept of planet formation occuring in harsh stellar environ- ments. [NSF/AUI/NSF NRAO/S.Dagnello] similar to what we’ve observed in less harsh environments.” Previous studies had focused on disks in regions with low ultraviolet radiation. This new research pro- vides the ALMA’s highest resolution look at disks in a more extreme environment. “These observations suggest that the processes driving