Scientists Identify Moon-Forming Disk Around Planet Outside Solar System

Scientists have clearly identified for the first time a moon-forming area around a planet beyond our solar system.

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The ring-shaped area surrounds an exoplanet called PDS 70c. An exoplanet is a planet that orbits a star outside our solar system.

The identified region is known as a circumplanetary disk. This is an area surrounding a planet where moons and other satellite objects can form. The disk is made up of gas and dust.

Researchers from the ALMA observatory, which operates from Chile’s Atacama desert, made the discovery. ALMA is the largest radio telescope in the world.

PDS 70c is a gas giant discovered in 2019, the U.S. space agency NASA says. It is one of two exoplanets orbiting the orange-colored star PDS 70.

The exoplanets sit about 370 light years from Earth. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, about 9.5 trillion kilometers.