ABC
News: Astronomers using the W. M. Keck Observatory's
telescopes on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea have taken the first
direct image of a planet being formed, writes Audrey McAvoy for
the Associated Press. Until now young planets had been
difficult to detect because the stars they orbit are so bright.
Adam Kraus of the University of Hawaii and Michael Ireland of
Australia’s Macquarie University overcame that obstacle
by altering the shape of the telescope’s mirror and
masking most of its surface. According to Kraus and Ireland,
the planet is being formed from dust and gas circling a
2-million-year-old star, about 450 light-years from Earth.
Their observations should help further the study of planetary
science by determining when and where planets form in relation
to the stars they orbit.
