--- title: New Mesmerizing Image of a Young Star description: The detail in the image is far greater than anything even the Hubble could achieve canonical: https://time.com/3560213/young-star-hl-tauri-alma-telescope/ author: Michael Lemonick article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-06T12:00:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:15:48.842Z article:section: Science og:title: New Mesmerizing Image of a Young Star og:description: The detail in the image is far greater than anything even the Hubble could achieve og:url: https://time.com/3560213/young-star-hl-tauri-alma-telescope/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf170d6729432c8e3/698764722dce01eea09db520/alma-young-star-hl-touri.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2650 og:image:height: 1491 og:image:alt: ALMA image of the protoplanetary disc around HL Tauri og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: New Mesmerizing Image of a Young Star twitter:description: The detail in the image is far greater than anything even the Hubble could achieve twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf170d6729432c8e3/698764722dce01eea09db520/alma-young-star-hl-touri.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # New Mesmerizing Image of a Young Star > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Michael Lemonick](https://time.com/author/michael-d-lemonick/) ## Michael Lemonick Nov 6, 2014 12:00 PM UTC  This is the sharpest image ever taken by ALMA This is the sharpest image ever taken by ALMA ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) by [Michael Lemonick](https://time.com/author/michael-d-lemonick/) ## Michael Lemonick Nov 6, 2014 12:00 PM UTC If someone had been around to see it, this is what our Solar System probably looked like when it was only a million years old (for the record, it’s nearly 4.6 _billion_ now, and counting). This image was taken by the giant [ALMA telescope](http://science.time.com/2013/03/20/a-super-telescope-goes-to-work/), located in the high desert of northern Chile, which sees in radio wavelengths. The detail here is far greater than anything even the Hubble could achieve. The glowing disk is dust and gas whirling around the young star, known as HL Tauri, located about 450 light-years from Earth in the constellation Taurus. The dark gaps are almost certainly places where the gravity of newly forming planets has swept the dust clean — exactly as Earth, Mars and the other planets in our mature Solar System did long ago. 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