Latest news with #HOPS-315
Time of India
16 hours ago
- Science
- Time of India
Birth of planet captured: Astronomers share rare glimpses of newborn planet about 1,300 light-yrs away
For the first time, a team of researchers has captured the birth of a planet around a star beyond our Sun. The observations captured the very beginnings of planet formation , a rare glimpse into the cosmic process that gives rise to Earth-like planets around a star. Observations were made using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope and NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to capture the formation of a new planetary system. Scientists detected the formation of the first specks of planet-building material around a baby star named HOPS-315 , located about 1,300 light-years away. HOPS-315 is considered a 'proto-star', meaning it's in the earliest stage of stellar evolution. These young stars are often surrounded by protoplanetary discs - rotating clouds of gas and dust where planets are born. This image shows jets of silicon monoxide (SiO) blowing away from the baby star HOPS-315. (Pic credit: ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/M. McClure et al.) by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like New Apartments Just Listed – Take a Look Apartments | Search Ads Learn More Undo "For the first time, we have identified the earliest moment when planet formation is initiated around a star other than our Sun," said Melissa McClure, lead author of the study from Leiden University in the Netherlands. The findings were published in the journal Nature . The team found evidence of silicon monoxide (SiO) gas and solid crystalline minerals in the disc surrounding HOPS-315. This suggests that planet-forming materials are beginning to condense from gas into solid particles, an evolutionary phase in the birth of planets. "This process has never been seen before in a protoplanetary disc — or anywhere outside our Solar System," said Edwin Bergin, co-author and professor at the University of Michigan, USA. The discovery unveils a never-before-seen phase in planet formation and opens a new window into studying how planetary systems like our own come into being.
Metro
16 hours ago
- Science
- Metro
Astronomers just casually witnessed the birth of a new solar system
Astronomers have witnessed the creation of a solar system for the first time. Data captured by the ALMA telescope in Chile and the James Webb Space Telescope showed planets forming around a star in the first record of its kind. The findings, detailed in a study published on Wednesday, showed how scientists observed a gaseous plate being formed around a star – the first step in the birth of a new solar system. Professor Melissa McCure from the Leiden University in the Netherlands said: 'For the first time, we have identified the earliest moment when planet formation is initiated around a star other than our Sun.' The new solar system is being formed around a baby or 'proto' star named HOPS-315 located some 1300 light-years from Earth. Scientists believe the unique sighting can paint a picture of how our solar system was formed, as well as help us better understand the planetary formation process. Merel van't Hoff, of Purdue University in the USA, who co-authored the study, said the nascent planetary system resembles what our solar system would have looked like when it was beginning to form. She said: 'This system is one of the best that we know to actually probe some of the processes that happened in our Solar System.' A solar system is formed from solid material within meteorites, which condense and then bind themselves together. More Trending The pieces of matter begin to form tiny planets or 'plantesimals' before they form larger full size planets. The first minerals around HOPS-315 were detected by the James Webb Space Telescope, before the ALMA Telescope was used to identify exactly where they originated. ESO astronomer Elizabeth Humphreys, who manages the European ALMA Programme Manager said she was 'really impressed' with the study. She said: 'It suggests that HOPS-315 can be used to understand how our own Solar System formed. This result highlights the combined strength of JWST and ALMA for exploring protoplanetary discs.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: France's new rocket Baguette One to go where no baker has gone before MORE: Felix Baumgartner's chilling last Instagram post moments before he died mid-air MORE: A new world may have been discovered beyond Neptune
Yahoo
a day ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers spot the exact moment a new planet system is being born around an alien star
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. For the first time ever, scientists have captured incredible images of an alien star system being born. The image shows the very earliest moments of planet formation, when hot minerals are just beginning to solidify around a distant star, according to a statement. The researchers published their findings July 16 in the journal Nature. Two telescopes worked together to reveal outflows of hot minerals around HOPS-315, which is a baby star like our sun roughly 1,300 light-years from Earth. Initially, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) spotted "stuff coming from close to the star, but it wasn't in the planet-forming region," study co-author Edwin Bergin, a star formation specialist at the University of Michigan, told Live Science. His team then used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), which is a set of antennas in the Chilean desert, to trace the outflow back to the protoplanetary disk — the dense disk of matter around a young star, where clumps of gas and dust can collapse into larger objects like planets. "Then that unlocked everything," Bergin said. It's the first time that planet-forming solids have ever been detected, he said – which could help researchers better understand how our own solar system was born. Related: Scientists discover rare planet at the edge of the Milky Way using space-time phenomenon predicted by Einstein Our solar system came into existence roughly 4.5 billion years ago in a cloud of gas and dust. As our sun formed and evolved, other materials gradually condensed into small solids, which grew by colliding and accreting into asteroids and comets, then in some cases, planetesimals and planets. The very earliest phases of this process are tough to spot in other systems, Bergin said, and the phase lasts just 100,000 to 200,000 years, he noted. But learning more about what happens in this moment is crucial, because when minerals begin to condense, organics also form. The new image shows carbon monoxide – represented in orange – blowing away from the star in a butterfly-shaped outflow, with a blue jet of silicon monoxide shining like an alien spine. A disk of gaseous silicon monoxide surrounding the area was also revealed, just as the gas was solidifying into silicates. Related stories —Scientists discover rare planet at the edge of the Milky Way, using space-time phenomenon predicted by Einstein —'Eyeball' planet spied by James Webb telescope might be habitable —Our sun may be overdue for a 'superflare' stronger than billions of atomic bombs, new research warns Earth and similar rocky planets like it formed as silicates and carbon came together, Bergin explained. Other research using ancient meteorites – formed in this same era – show these space rocks are full of crystalline minerals, containing silicon monoxide. These solids are always moving about in the hot and windy conditions of a young star system, creating a rich environment for rocks to bind to each other. "The story of planetary formation is the story of motion and movement," Bergin noted. The researchers are hoping to use ALMA again to probe other young star systems that may have similar outflows, he added.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists watch a solar system being born for the first ever time
Scientists have watched a solar system being born for the first ever time. Using a powerful telescope, researchers saw the first pieces of material that will go onto form planets. A solar system has never been seen this early in its formation before. Researchers hope that the breakthrough discovery will allow for a new understanding of how such systems form – including our own. The findings are like 'a picture of the baby Solar System', said Merel van 't Hoff, a professor at Purdue University, USA, and a co-author on the new study. 'We're seeing a system that looks like what our Solar System looked like when it was just beginning to form.' The new system is being born around HOPS-315, a baby star located around 1300 light-years away. Researchers believe that it looks like our Sun would have done in its youth. Those baby stars often have 'protoplanetary discs' around them, made up of dust and gas that will eventually clump together and form the beginnings of planets. Researchers have seen massive newborn planets in those discs before, but they have now spotted those baby planets as they begin to form. The work is described in a new paper, 'Refractory solid condensation detected in an embedded protoplanetary disk', published in the journal Nature. More follows
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers witness dawn of new solar system for 1st time
Astronomers have witnessed the birth of a solar system beyond our own for the first time. An international team of researchers has been able to pinpoint the exact moment when planets began to form around a star by using data captured by the ALMA telescope in Chile and the James Webb Space Telescope, according to a study published in Nature on Wednesday. MORE: 100 undiscovered galaxies could be orbiting the Milky Way, according to new research The astronomers observed hot minerals just beginning to solidify – the first specks of planet-forming material, the astronomers said. A gaseous disk surrounding the young star is the first stages of the assembly process to form a new planetary system, according to the paper. "For the first time, we have identified the earliest moment when planet formation is initiated around a star other than our Sun," Melissa McClure, a professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands and lead author of the study, said in a statement released by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Planets and small bodies like those in our solar system likely formed through the mixture of interstellar solids with rocky solids that condense from the hot gases surrounding a young host star, astronomers hypothesize. But the specific process of the solar system's formation remains unclear. In our solar system, the first solid material to condense near Earth's present location orbiting the sun is found trapped within ancient meteorites, according to the ESO. Over time, the newly condensed solids bind together and begin the planet formation process as they gain both size and mass. MORE: Webb telescope discovers stars forming in 'toe beans' of Cat's Paw Nebula Researchers say they found evidence that these hot minerals have begun to condense in the disc surrounding the young star, or protostar, named HOPS-315. "This process has never been seen before in a protoplanetary disc – or anywhere outside our solar system," said Edwin Bergin, an astronomer at the University of Michigan and co-author of the paper, in a statement. The protostar is located in the Orion B molecular cloud, around 1,300 light-years from Earth, according to the paper, and is positioned in a way that allows a direct view of its inner gaseous disk. One light year is approximately 5.9 trillion miles. The view is rare because jets of gas emitted by protostars, known as outflow, often block the view of the disk, the researchers said. MORE: Astronomers spot 'interstellar object' speeding through solar system Astronomers were able to observe solids starting to condense from the cooling gas – known as "time zero" for planet formation – by using infrared and millimeter wavelengths from the ground- and space-based telescopes, the researchers said. The Webb telescope, the most powerful telescope ever launched into space, was used to probe the chemical makeup of the material around the protostar, detecting crystalline silicate materials that are a "telltale sign" of early planet formation, according to the paper. The chemical signals appear to be coming from a small region of the disc around the star that's equivalent to the orbit of the asteroid belt around our own sun, according to the ESO. "This hot mineral is the first feedstock that you have to start growing things in the dark," McClure said. The finding marks the first time a planetary system has been identified at such an early stage. While astronomers have previously seen young discs that contain newborn, massive planets like Jupiter, it was not yet proven that the first solid parts of nascent planets, known as planetesimals, must form further back in time, at earlier stages, McClure said. The discovery opens a window into the past of our own solar system, since the formation of the new system likely mimics the conditions that occurred at the dawn of the planetary system that is home to Earth, astronomers said. "This system is one of the best that we know to actually probe some of the processes that happened in our solar system," said Merel van 't Hoff, an astronomer at Purdue University and co-author of the study, said in a statement released by Nature. Solve the daily Crossword
