Using radio observatories in the UK and US and computer simulations, a team of astronomers have identified the youngest forming planet yet seen. “The new object, designated HL Tau b, is the youngest planetary object ever seen and is just 1 percent as old as the young planet found in orbit around the star TW Hydrae that made the news last year. HL Tau b gives a unique view of how planets take shape, because the VLA image also shows the parent disk material from which it formed,” one of the astronomers said.