"First-Ever Observation of an Extragalactic Star's Disc Marks Cosmic Breakthrough"

Astronomers have discovered the first evidence of a rotating disc of material around a massive young star in a neighboring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). This breakthrough provides insight into the formation of high-mass stars and suggests that they form in a similar way to lower-mass stars. The discovery, led by a team including Rice University's Megan Reiter, sheds light on the early universe and offers a glimpse into how stars and planets formed in the past.