Astronomers have identified a potential site for a new gas giant planet, several times the mass of Jupiter.
The discovery, made by an international team led by the University of Galway, involves a young star surrounded by a planet-forming disc.
Using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, the team observed a disc with rings and spiral arms, suggesting the presence of a forming planet.
The disc extends 130 astronomical units from its star, with a bright ring and a gap at 50 astronomical units. The inner part of the system has a radius of 40 astronomical units, large enough to contain our entire solar system.
The researchers, led by Dr. Christian Ginski, plan to use the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to further investigate the system.