Space News!!

Via National Geographic News, a Planet-Forming Disk has been Spotted Around Dead Star.

A disk of potentially planet-forming debris has been found around a pulsar about 13,000 light-years from Earth, scientists announced today.

The debris is most likely material that has fallen back toward the star after a supernova, or star explosion. The material could clump together to form planets, astronomers say, but such planets would be unlikely to harbor life.

"This disk looks remarkably like those also seen around ordinary young stars in which planets are known to form," said Deepto Chakrabarty, a physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, who led the discovery team.

"But for the first time we may be seeing the start of planet formation in the very different, harsh environment that exists around an old dead star like a pulsar," he added.

Cool!! Another place to send the crazy fundies. I'm sure jeebus will provide for them in that hostile environment. And they'll have a pretty sky to look at.