ALMA devours cosmic ‘hamburger,’ reveals potential for giant planet formation

Have you ever found something unexpected in your hamburger? Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) were surprised to discover the very earliest phases of giant planet formation between the dense layers of gas and dust in the “Gomez’s Hamburger” system, referred to as GoHam. This research, currently in preparation for publication, was presented at a press conference at the American Astronomical Society’s annual meeting (AAS 2026), held January 4–8 in Phoenix.