Astronomers capture the birth of planets around a baby sun outside our solar system
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Astronomers have discovered the earliest seeds of rocky planets forming in the gas around a baby sun-like star, providing a precious peek into the dawn of our own solar system.
It's an unprecedented snapshot of 'time zero,' scientists reported Wednesday, when new worlds begin to gel.
'We've captured a direct glimpse of the hot region where rocky planets like Earth are born around young protostars,' said Leiden Observatory's Melissa McClure from the Netherlands, who led the international research team. 'For the first time, we can conclusively say that the first steps of planet formation are happening right now.'
The observations offer a unique glimpse into the inner workings of an emerging planetary system, said the University of Chicago's Fred Ciesla, who was not involved in the study appearing in the journal Nature.
'This is one of the things we've been waiting for. Astronomers have been thinking about how planetary systems form for a long period of time,' Ciesla said. 'There's a rich opportunity here.'
NASA's Webb Space Telescope and the European Southern Observatory in Chile teamed up to unveil these early nuggets of planetary formation around the young star known as HOPS-315. It's a yellow dwarf in the making like the sun, yet much younger at 100,000 to 200,000 years old and some 1,370 light-years away. A single light-year is 6 trillion miles.
In a cosmic first, McClure and her team stared deep into the gas disk around the baby star and detected solid specks condensing — signs of early planet formation. A gap in the outer part of the disk gave allowed them to gaze inside, thanks to the way the star tilts toward Earth.
They detected silicon monoxide gas as well as crystalline silicate minerals, the ingredients for what's believed to be the first solid materials to form in our solar system more than 4.5 billion years ago. The action is unfolding in a location comparable to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter containing the leftover building blocks of our solar system's planets.
The condensing of hot minerals was never detected before around other young stars, 'so we didn't know if it was a universal feature of planet formation or a weird feature of our solar system,' McClure said in an email. 'Our study shows that it could be a common process during the earliest stage of planet formation.'
While other research has looked at younger gas disks and, more commonly, mature disks with potential planet wannabes, there's been no specific evidence for the start of planet formation until now, McClure said.
In a stunning picture taken by the ESO's Alma telescope network, the emerging planetary system resembles a lightning bug glowing against the black void.
It's impossible to know how many planets might form around HOPS-315. With a gas disk as massive as the sun's might have been, it could also wind up with eight planets a million or more years from now, according to McClure.
Purdue University's Merel van 't Hoff, a co-author, is eager to find more budding planetary systems. By casting a wider net, astronomers can look for similarities and determine which processes might be crucial to forming Earth-like worlds.
'Are there Earth-like planets out there or are we like so special that we might not expect it to occur very often?'
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AP video journalist Javier Arciga contributed to this report.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press
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CTV News
11 hours ago
- CTV News
No funny gene: your humour has nothing to do with DNA
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CBC
2 days ago
- CBC
Trump's NASA cuts will 'compromise human safety,' hundreds of employees say in letter
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Calgary Herald
2 days ago
- Calgary Herald
There is a serious side effect to going to space, NASA says
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. NASA astronaut Suni Williams conducts an eye exam on the International Space Station. Photo by NASA A new study from NASA, conducted over several years of long-duration spaceflights on the International Space Station, has found that more than half of U.S. astronauts started noticing changes in their vision after more than six months aboard the ISS. Here's what to know. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Calgary Herald ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Calgary Herald ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors 'Many found that, as their mission progressed, they needed stronger reading glasses,' the study says. 'Researchers studying this phenomenon identified swelling in the optic disc, which is where the optic nerve enters the retina, and flattening of the eye shape.' Your weekday lunchtime roundup of curated links, news highlights, analysis and features. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again The acronym-loving space agency calls the condition SANS, short for Space-Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome. 'Microgravity causes a person's blood and cerebrospinal fluid to shift toward the head, and studies have suggested that these fluid shifts may be an underlying cause of SANS,' researchers at NASA found. A Canadian-led study with an even longer acronym — Space Flight-Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome Ocular Rigidity Investigation, or SANSORI — was carried out to determine whether stiffness of the eye, called ocular rigidity, contributes to development of SANS. It studied 26 eyes (or 13 crew members) that spent between 157 and 186 days on the ISS, and revealed a drop in ocular rigidity (33 per cent), intraocular pressure (11 per cent) and ocular pulse amplitude (25 per cent) following the missions. 'These findings reveal previously unknown effects of microgravity on the eye's mechanical properties, contributing to a deeper understanding of … SANS,' researchers wrote. 'Long-term space missions significantly alter ocular biomechanics and have the potential to become biomarkers of disease progression.' NASA has a study taking place now on the space station with a device called the Thigh Cuff. The ongoing investigation has 10 astronauts using tight leg cuffs to change the way fluid moves around inside the body, especially around the eyes and in the heart and blood vessels. That study is expected to wrap up next year but, if successful, the team behind the device says, 'the cuffs could serve as a countermeasure against the problems associated with fluid shifts, including SANS.' They add: 'A simple and easy-to-use tool to counter the headward shift of body fluids could help protect astronauts on future missions to the Moon and Mars. The cuffs also could treat conditions on Earth that cause fluid to build up in the head or upper body, such as long-term bed rest and certain diseases.' This advertisement has not loaded yet. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Other possible treatments have been considered. Last year, a paper was published about an unnamed female astronaut with a particularly severe case of SANS. Her condition improved after she started taking a prescribed B-vitamin supplement that was flown to her on the station; however, there was coincidentally a reduction in cabin carbon dioxide at the same time, so researchers weren't certain if that may have also helped. The good new is that SANS does not seem to be a lifelong condition. In an interview, Dr. Andrew G. Lee, a Houston ophthalmologist and one of the authors of the above study, was refreshingly blunt about the longterm consequences. 'Astronaut vision is super important, not only for their safety but for mission quality,' he said. 'It's really important not to have blind people going to Mars.' He added: 'But so far so good. We have not seen any permanent vision loss from any SANS case, and the treatment seems to be come home. So once you get back to the gravitational field of the planet it seems to just go away after a while.' 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