Just over 400 light-years away, a baby exoplanet is making its way into the Universe.

This, in itself, is not so unusual. We’ve detected thousands of exoplanets – planets outside the Solar System. Presumably they all had to be newborn at some point too. What makes this exoplanet special is that astronomers obtained a direct image of it – an almost vanishingly rare feat.

It’s named 2M0437b, and it’s one of the youngest exoplanets for which we have ever obtained a direct image. This could give us a new window into the planet formation process, which in turn could help us understand how the Solar System was born and evolved.