7. A planet forming a ring beyond the solar system
Found Year: 2021
Who Discovered It: Alma
Where: Around Exoplanet PDS 70C
Recently, scientists utilising the Atacama Large Array discovered an extraterrestrial world in its very early stages of creation. In 2021, scientists discovered the first known moon-forming disc orbiting a planet outside of our solar system. The exoplanet PDS 70C is surrounded by the material-rich primordial ring, which is swimming around in space.
Planet Forming Ring Outside Solar System ©Shutterstock/MR. Somchat Parkaythong
This disc is five hundred times larger than Saturn’s rings and is situated four hundred light years away. According to scientists, there is enough material in this ring to create three bodies the size of the moon. For astronomers hoping to understand more about how protoplanetary discs shape moons and planets in the early stages of a system, discovering this ring was a major victory.
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