Archive · 12 Jan 2026
Cosmic Hamburger Reveals Planet Formation Signs
Scientists have discovered a huge disk of gas and dust in space, called Gomez's Hamburger (GoHam), that looks like a burger from Earth.
This disk is so big that it's the largest of its kind ever seen.
The scientists used a powerful tool called ALMA to study it.
They found that planets might be forming inside this disk.
The disk has layers of gas that look like the buns of a burger, and the dust is in the middle.
Studying GoHam helps scientists understand how planets are born and how they change the gas and dust around them.
Gomez's Hamburger (GoHam) is a massive protoplanetary disk with signs of planet formation.
The disk appears like a burger with gas layers as 'buns' and dust in the middle.
GoHam is the largest protoplanetary disk ever observed, with a width of 2,000 times the distance between the sun and Earth.
Scientists used the ALMA array in northern Chile to study the disk.
GoHam provides a unique opportunity to study how disks evolve and form planets.
- Who
- Scientists led by Charles Law of the University of Virginia
- What
- Detected signs of planet formation in Gomez's Hamburger (GoHam)
- When
- Not specified
- Where
- Observed through ALMA in northern Chile
- Why
- To understand disk evolution and planet formation
- Object Name
- Gomez's Hamburger (GoHam)
- Type
- Protoplanetary disk
- Observation Tool
- Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)
- Location
- Northern Chile
- Disk Width
- 2,000 times the distance between the sun and the Earth
- Disk Height
- Several 100 times the distance between the sun and the Earth
- Lead Researcher
- Charles Law, University of Virginia