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To understand how the multitude of planetary systems that have beendiscovered come to be, we need to study systems at different evolutionarystages, with different central stars but also in different environments. Themost challenging environment for planet formation may be the harsh UV radiationfield of nearby massive stars which quickly erodes disks by externalphoto-evaporation. We have observed the AT Pyx system, located in the head of acometary globule in the Gum Nebula, to search for signs of ongoing planetformation. We used the extreme adaptive optics imager VLT/SPHERE to observe ATPyx in polarized light as well as total intensity in the J, H and K-band.Additionally we employed VLT/NACO to observe the system in the L-band. Weresolve the disk around AT Pyx in scattered light across multiple wavelengths.We find an extended (>126 au) disk, with an intermediate inclination between 35deg and 42 deg. The disk shows complex sub-structure and we identify 2 andpossibly 3 spiral-like features. Depending on the precise geometry of the disk(which we can not unambiguously infer from our data) the disk may be eccentricwith an eccentricity of ~0.16 or partially self-shadowed. The spiral featuresand possible eccentricity are both consistent with signatures of an embeddedgas giant planet equal in mass to Jupiter. Our own observations can rule outbrown dwarf companions embedded in the resolved disk, but are not sensitiveenough to detect gas giants. AT Pyx is the first disk in a cometray globule inthe Gum Nebula which is spatially resolved. By comparison with disks in theOrion Nebula Cluster we note that the extension of the disk may be exceptionalfor this environment if the external UV radiation field is comparable to othercometary globules in the region. The signposts of ongoing planet formation areintriguing and need to be followed up with higher sensitivity.

An extended scattered light disk around AT Pyx -- Possible planet formation in a cometary globule