For the first time astronomers, including scientists at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC), have captured a detailed snapshot of planetary systems in an era long shrouded in mystery. Using ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) ARKS (ALMA survey to Resolve exoKuiper belt Substructures) have produced the sharpest images ever of 24 debris disks, the dusty belts left after planets finish forming.
These disks are the cosmic equivalent of adolescence: no longer newborn, but far from settled into adulthood.
Meredith Hughes, an Associate Professor of Astronomy at Wesleyan University and co-PI of this study, said: “We've often seen the 'baby pictures' of planets forming, but until now, the 'teenage years' have been a missing link."
Giant impacts
Studying these disks reveals what happened as planets jostled for position and giant impacts shaped worlds.
Debris disks are faint, hundreds or thousands of times dimmer than planet-forming disks. The ARKS team overcame this challenge, revealing complex structures: multi-ringed belts, smooth halos, sharp edges, and unexpected arcs and clumps.
Sebastián Marino, an Associate Professor at the University of Exeter and program lead for ARKS, said: "We're seeing real diversity—not just simple rings, but multi-ringed belts, halos, and strong asymmetries, revealing a dynamic and violent chapter in planetary histories."
Orbital chaos
These disks record a time of orbital chaos and colossal collisions. By comparing dozens of disks around stars of different ages, ARKS is helping decode whether these features are sculpted by planets or other forces, key to understanding if our Solar System's past was unique.
Mark Booth, Project Scientist at UK ATC and member of the survey team, said: “Alongside the beautiful images of the dust in these disks, we have also simultaneously imaged the gas in many of them, which is thought to be released through collisions. Combined analysis of the gas and dust provides an even deeper understanding of the physical processes in these young planetary systems."
The ARKS survey's findings are a treasure trove for astronomers hunting for young planets and seeking to understand how planet families, like our own, are built and rearranged.
Meredith Hughes, adds: “This project adds the missing pages to the Solar System's family album. It gives us a new lens for interpreting everything from lunar craters to the Kuiper Belt."
The ARKS survey made up of an international team of about 60 scientists from the University of Exeter, Trinity College Dublin, Wesleyan University, the UK Astronomy Technology Centre and more.
Find out more.
Read the papers in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
