BBC Sky at Night

Q&A WITH A PLANETARY SCIENTIST

You have identified organic molecules in protoplanetary discs circling newly formed stars. Where are these discs?

These discs are located between about 300 to 500 lightyears from Earth, so we are actually seeing the discs as they appeared 300 to 500 years ago. The regions in which these discs exist are some of the closest star-forming regions to our Solar System, which means we can

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