Birth of a planet caught on camera

A SYDNEY scientist has helped capture the first direct images of a planet being formed.

Dr Michael Ireland, a lecturer in astrophotonics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Macquarie University, and Dr Adam Kraus, of the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy, have published their discovery of LkCa 15 b, a gas giant similar to Jupiter, in the Astrophysical Journal.

About 450 light years away from Earth, the planet is the youngest found.   Full Read