06 – ALMA Top 10: Watching Planet Formation in Action
06 – ALMA Top 10: Watching Planet Formation in Action
For the first time, astronomers using ALMA have witnessed 3D motions of gas in a planet-forming disk. At three locations in the disk around a young star called HD 163296, gas is flowing like a waterfall into gaps that are most likely caused by planets in formation. These gas flows have long been predicted and would directly influence the chemical composition of planetary atmospheres.