Infrared images of a pulsar in the constellation of Cassiopeia revealed an orbiting disk of dust and debris from which planets may form.

A pulsar is the remnant of a star that went "supernova," dying as it collapsed under its own weight, then exploded. If this pulsar - named 4U 0142+61 - had any planets before, they were incinerated in the blast.

However, much of the material that was blown out into space has fallen back into orbit around the stellar corpse. Dr. Deepto Chakrabarty of M.I.T., who is heading up the research, observes, "Within this harsh environment we have a disk that looks a lot like those around young stars where planets are formed."  It is the first time these kind of conditions have ever been seen around a dead star. A short computer simulation of the process is available here.