Swirling Planets

Unseen planets are sculpting swirling disks of gas around three young stars in these recent images from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. An instrument blots out the central stars, allowing the surrounding disks to shine through. The system at left, RX J1615, is just 1.8 million years old, so it is still in the earliest stages of planet formation. Some of the material in these spiral disks may coalesce to form even more planets. [ESO]