Scientists Capture First Birth Of A Planet

"An international team of scientists has discovered a young planet — just 5 or 6 million years old — forging its own path through space and likely growing along the way."

"The scientists captured a photograph, which they say is the very first direct image of the birth of a planet still forming around a star."

"It's a major finding for those of us on Earth, a 4.5-billion-year-old planet."

"The newly discovered planet may be young, but it's huge: many times the size of Jupiter, which could fit 1,300 planet Earths inside."

"The images provide useful information about how planets, including those in our own solar system, form."

"A team of about 120 scientists worked on the research, published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics."

"'It's a long-lasting and careful process,' to characterize a young planet, says André Muller, who worked at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany. 'We worked for at least a year on it on a daily basis.'"

"The planet's name? PDS 70 b. That's based on the name of the star it orbits, PDS 70."