Imaged in infrared light , the tantalizing torus-shaped cloud of gas and dust is slightly tilted to our view. The cloud's material may well be the ingredients for the formation of a distant solar system . A bright source of ultraviolet light , the hot young star itself is much fainter in the infrared and so not visible in this picture. Still, the star's presence is indicated as its intense stellar wind and radiation has apparently carved out the doughnut's hole. This premier close-up of a stellar system in formation was accomplished by adapting a powerful observational technique called interferometry to planet Earth's largest single mirror telescope, the 10 meter Keck .
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