This image may not be used by or to promote the arms, nuclear power or tobacco industries or any religious organisation, or in any discriminatory way,

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This image may not be used by or to promote the arms, nuclear power or tobacco industries or any religious organisation, or in any discriminatory way, or to imply the endorsement by ESO of any product, service or activity GG Tauri-A protoplanetary disc. Illustration of the disc of protoplanetary material around the double star system GG Tauri-A, part of the larger GG Tauri system. This type of protoplanetary disc is known as a circumbinary disc. Researchers using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) have detected gas flowing in a region between the two discs in this binary system. This may allow planets to form despite the gravitationally perturbed environment. Half of Sun-like stars form in binary systems, so these observations affect expected numbers. GG Tauri-A is around 450 light years from Earth in the constellation of Taurus.

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Size: 3750px × 2342px
Photo credit: © L. CALCADA/EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -, alien, alma, array, artwork, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, atacama, binary, circumbinary, circumstellar, disc, disk, double, exoplanet, exoplanets, formation, forming, gg, illustration, large, material, millimeter, planetary, protoplanetary, science, space, star, stars, system, tauri, tauri-, taurus, universe, young