Astronomers directly observe a planet-forming disk spinning for the first time

CNRS-led astronomers published the first direct observation of a protoplanetary disk’s rotation, captured via dust emissions over four years.cnrs
The SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile blocked starlight to reveal the spinning disk around AB Aurigae, 520 light-years away.eso
Unexpected motions and bright accretion zones near the star suggest giant planets may be forming within the disk, according to the researchers.cnrs

Astronomers Directly Observe Rotation of Planet-Forming Disk for First Time

For the first time, astronomers have directly watched a protoplanetary disk spin, capturing images over four years that show the swirling nursery of gas and dust where planets are being born around the young star AB Aurigae.

A Disk in Motion

The study, published on June 1, 2026, in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, was led by scientists from France’s CNRS and the University of Bordeaux. Using the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, the team tracked dust grain emissions within the disk surrounding AB Aurigae, a star located about 520 light-years from Earth in the constellation Auriga.cnrs

By blocking the glare of the central star, SPHERE revealed the disk in detail across three sets of observations collected over a four-year period. The resulting sequence of images shows the disk rotating around the star — the first time such motion has been directly mapped through dust emissions rather than inferred from gas velocities.eso

Anomalies Point to Giant Planets

While the disk largely rotates as predicted by physics, certain regions close to the star show unexpected departures from normal behavior. The researchers identified a bright structure characteristic of accretion zones — areas where gas and dust accumulate and fall onto an object in the process of forming. According to the CNRS, this phenomenon is “closely linked to the formation of gas giant planets”.cnrs

The images also reveal rapidly rotating faint shadows cast onto the disk’s surface by structures that cannot be seen directly. These could be protoplanets or opaque clumps of dust orbiting near the star.eso

A Familiar Target With New Secrets

AB Aurigae has long been a focus of planet-formation research. In 2020, the same SPHERE instrument revealed spiral structures and a “twist” in the disk marking a likely planet-forming site. More recently, in September 2025, a separate team used ESO’s Very Large Telescope to detect hydrogen emissions from the protoplanet AB Aurigae b, providing direct evidence of material falling onto a growing planet still shrouded in dust.earthsky

The new findings, the researchers noted, are “more complex than those predicted by theoretical models,” underscoring the need for continued observation to directly detect the properties of the protoplanets or dense clumps responsible for the disk’s unusual dynamics.cnrs