First-Ever Planet-Forming Disk Found Beyond the Milky Way

Astronomers have discovered a young star, HH 1177, outside the Milky Way galaxy that is surrounded by a dense disk where planets may form. This unprecedented find in the neighboring dwarf galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, could provide valuable insights into star and planet formation. The star's disk was observed using the ALMA telescope, and its presence was confirmed by measuring the movement of dense gas around the star. This discovery marks the first direct evidence of an extragalactic accretion disk, shedding light on the formation of stars and planets in other galaxies.