Astronomers have used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to observe a disc around a young star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy neighboring ours. It’s the first time such a disc, identical to those forming planets in our Milky Way, has ever been found outside our galaxy. The new observations reveal a massive young star, growing and accreting matter from its surroundings and forming a rotating disc. Read more.
Scientific Paper: McLeod, A.F., Klaassen, P.D., Reiter, M. et al. A probable Keplerian disk feeding an optically revealed massive young star. Nature (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06790-2
Image: © ESO/M. Kornmesser; This artist’s impression shows the HH 1177 system, which is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighbouring galaxy of our own. The young and massive stellar object glowing in the centre is collecting matter from a dusty disc while also expelling matter in powerful jets. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which ESO is a partner, a team of astronomers managed to find evidence for the presence of this disc by observing its rotation. This is the first time a disc around a young star — the type of disc identical to those forming planets in our own galaxy — has been discovered in another galaxy.