Astronomers find the missing link in planet formation

This missing link was found in the form of a kilometre sized object beyond the orbit of Neptune

New models explain how planets are formed from gas and dust

By simulating the movement of dust as it moves through gas shows how larger clumps of material form, eventually leading to the formation of planets

This young planet is shaping its host primordial disk and its atmosphere appears to be cloudy

Courtesy of a Very Large Telescope instrument, there has now been an influx of fantastic images unmasking the dusty discs that surround young stars

Sharp new observations have revealed striking features in planet-forming regions around young stars

Astronomers have taken a new, detailed look at the very early stages of planet formation embedded in a binary star’s protoplanetary disc

Lumps of rock in the process of forming planets have been detected for the very first time

Is it possible for life to exist around massive stars?

Could the disc of gas and dust surrounding a star 335 light years away be the construction yard for a planet?