British and American astronomers report in the current issue of on what they believe to be new solar systems in formation around nearby stars in our Milky Way galaxy. The findings suggest that planetary systems may be more common than previously thought and also provide insights into what our own solar system looked like as it formed.
The stars Vega in the constellation Lyra, Fomalhaut in Piscis Austrinus, and Beta Pictoris in Pictor were under observation by the Joint Astronomy Centre in Hawaii and the University of California at Los Angeles. Researchers used radio images produced by examining light from the stars at sub-millimetre wavelengths.
The most striking finding was a clear area in the dust disc which surrounds Fomalhaut, with the likely explanation being "that it has formed into rocky planets like the earth", according to Dr Wayne Holland, who lead the astronomy team in Hawaii.