Four annular structures in a protostellar disk less than 500,000 years old.

Annular structures (rings and gaps) in disks around pre-main-sequence stars have been detected in abundance towards class II protostellar objects that are approximately 1,000,000 years old. These structures are often interpreted as evidence of planet formation, with planetary-mass bodies carving rings and gaps in the disk. This implies that planet formation may already be underway in even younger disks in the class I phase, when the protostar is still embedded in a larger-scale dense envelope of gas and dust.