Astronomers believe they have found two newborn planets, each about the size of Saturn, orbiting around a young star known as HD 163296.
These planets, which are not yet formed fully, revealed themselves by the dual imprint they left in both the dust and the gas portions of the star's protoplanetary disk, the scientists said.
Studying HD 163296, the research team used Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) to trace, for the first time, the distribution of both the dust and the carbon monoxide (CO) gas components of the disk.
The new observations provide evidence that planets are indeed forming around this one young star.
HD 163296 is around five million years old and about twice the mass of the Sun. It is located approximately 400 light years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius.
The researchers found three distinct gaps in the star's dust-filled protoplanetary disk.
By observing the same features in both the gas and the dust components of the disk, the astronomers believe they have found compelling evidence that there are two planets coalescing remarkably far from the central star.
Width and depth of the two carbon monoxide gaps suggest that each potential planet is roughly the same mass as Saturn.
