Latest news with #PlanetFormation
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers capture birth of a new solar system around sun-like baby star
Astronomers have, for the first time, discovered the moment when planets started to form around a sun-like baby star, scientists reported Wednesday. The specks of planet-forming material are emerging around HOPS-315, a protostar or baby star located 1,300 light-years away from us. One light year is approximately 5.88 trillion miles. While astronomers have seen discs of gas and dust around protostars before, they've never before identified a new planetary system at such an early stage. Minerals in the system around HOPS-315 are just starting to form. "We're seeing a system that looks like what our Solar System looked like when it was just beginning to form," study co-author Merel van 't Hoff, a professor at Purdue University, said in a news release from the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The observatory paired up with NASA's Webb Space Telescope to identify the minerals forming the new solar system. Researchers turned to data from our own solar system to determine that these minerals show the start of a new system. In Earth's solar system, the first solid materials to form can now be found inside ancient meteorites. Those ancient meteorites contain a mineral called silicon monoxide, which only forms at extremely high temperatures, like those near a young star. Scientists were able to identify the formation of silicon monoxide around HOPS-315, which they said tells them they've caught the development of a solar system at an early stage. "This is the first time this early stage of planet-building has ever been observed outside our own Solar System," the Planetary Society wrote in a social media post about the discovery. The discovery marks "the birth of the seeds of the planets," study co-author Edwin Bergin, a professor at the University of Michigan, told CBS News. The silicate-mineral rich material around HOPS-315 will make planets after another million years or so. "So we are watching the beginnings of the construction of planets," Bergin said. With the discovery, Bergin said researchers now know what to look for to find other budding systems. ESO's Alma telescope network in Chile captured an image of the still-forming planetary system around HOPS-315. In orange, the image shows the distribution of carbon monoxide blowing away from HOPS-315. Blue shows a narrow jet of silicon monoxide, which is also beaming away from the baby star. Astronomers hope it can help them learn more about the dawn of our solar system. "This system is one of the best that we know to actually probe some of the processes that happened in our Solar System," van 't Hoff said in a news release. HOPS-315 is much younger than the Sun; it's about 100,000 years old, Bergin said. "So we get a glimpse of the system in its infancy," Bergin said in an email. "Given that the Sun is 4.6 Billion years old this is a baby star that is still gaining mass and getting bigger." Son of man who was violently detained by ICE reacts after release Mike Johnson breaks from Trump, calls on DOJ to release Epstein files Fighting elderly loneliness
CBC
16-07-2025
- Science
- CBC
Birth of a solar system: Astronomers observe early planet formation for 1st time
Social Sharing 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 (ESO) 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 nine trillion kilometres. 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 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." WATCH | Some days feeling shorter? Here's why: Why Earth will spin slightly faster on 3 days this summer 7 days ago 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.
CBS News
16-07-2025
- Science
- CBS News
Astronomers capture birth of new solar system around a sun-like baby star
Astronomers have, for the first time, discovered the moment when planets started to form around a sun-like baby star, scientists reported Wednesday. The specks of planet-forming material are emerging around HOPS-315, a protostar or baby star located 1,300 light-years away from us. One light year is approximately 5.88 trillion miles. While astronomers have seen discs of gas and dust around protostars before, they've never before identified a new planetary system at such an early stage. Minerals in the system around HOPS-315 are just starting to form. "We're seeing a system that looks like what our Solar System looked like when it was just beginning to form," study co-author Merel van 't Hoff, a professor at Purdue University, said in a news release from the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The observatory paired up with NASA's Webb Space Telescope to identify the minerals forming the new solar system. Researchers turned to data from our own solar system to determine that these minerals show the start of a new system. In Earth's solar system, the first solid materials to form can now be found inside ancient meteorites. Those ancient meteorites contain a mineral called silicon monoxide, which only forms at extremely high temperatures, like those near a young star. Scientists were able to identify the formation of silicon monoxide around HOPS-315, which they said tells them they've caught the development of a solar system at an early stage. "This is the first time this early stage of planet-building has ever been observed outside our own Solar System," the Planetary Society wrote in a social media post about the discovery. The discovery marks "the birth of the seeds of the planets," study co-author Edwin Bergin, a professor at the University of Michigan, told CBS News. The silicate-mineral rich material around HOPS-315 will make planets after another million years or so. "So we are watching the beginnings of the construction of planets," Bergin said. With the discovery, Bergin said researchers now know what to look for to find other budding systems. ESO's Alma telescope network in Chile captured an image of the still-forming planetary system around HOPS-315. In orange, the image shows the distribution of carbon monoxide blowing away from HOPS-315. Blue shows a narrow jet of silicon monoxide, which is also beaming away from the baby star. Astronomers hope it can help them learn more about the dawn of our solar system. "This system is one of the best that we know to actually probe some of the processes that happened in our Solar System," van 't Hoff said in a news release. HOPS-315 is much younger than the Sun; it's about 100,000 years old, Bergin said. "So we get a glimpse of the system in its infancy," Bergin said in an email. "Given that the Sun is 4.6 Billion years old this is a baby star that is still gaining mass and getting bigger."
France 24
16-07-2025
- Science
- France 24
In cosmic first, scientists see planets take shape around a star to form solar system
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. In a stunning picture taken by the Alma telescope network, the emerging planetary system resembles a lightning bug glowing against the black void. It's an unprecedented snapshot of 'time zero' when new worlds begin to gel, scientists reported Wednesday in the journal Nature. '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 Fred Ciesla of the University of Chicago. '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 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 is 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 to AP. '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. 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?'
