Water in the HL Tauri disc

Astronomers have found water vapour in a disc around a young star exactly where planets may be forming. In this image, the new observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) show the water vapour in shades of blue. Near the centre of the disc, where the young star lives, the environment is hotter and the gas brighter. The red-hued rings are previous ALMA observations showing the distribution of dust around the star. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Facchini et al.