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Yahoo
7 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
See the baby solar system astronomers just spotted forming a planet for the first time
Outside our own solar system, the first moments of planet formation have never been detected, until now. Astronomers used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile and Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope in orbit to observe the earliest moments when specks of dust began tumbling into what will become planets. New Images Released Of 'Interstellar Wanderer' Zooming Through Our Solar System The European Southern Observatory (ESO) said the images are of a "baby star" known as HOPS-315 located about 1,300 light-years from Earth. The images and findings were published in the journal Nature on Wednesday. Study co-author and Purdue University Professor Merel van 't Hoff compared the images to "a picture of the baby Solar System … seeing a system that looks like what our Solar System looked like when it was just beginning to form." According to ESO, the image above shows HOPS-315. The orange is carbon monoxide blowing away from the baby star. In blue, there is a jet of silicon monoxide, which will eventually become the solid material to form planets. Previously, astronomers have observed giant planets, like Jupiter, forming in the giant discs around young stars. According to the ESO, this discovery shows the first minerals condensing and growing in size and mass. Eventually, this process will form planets. The illustrations on the right of the above image show this process happening around baby star HOPS-315 as molecules of silicon monoxide condense into solid silicates. Largest Chunk Of Mars Discovered On Earth Sells At Auction For $5.3 Million The minerals were first identified by the James Webb Space Telescope and then the signals were pinpointed by ALMA. The ALMA image above shows the jets of silicon monoxide blowing away from the star. "For the first time, we have identified the earliest moment when planet formation is initiated around a star other than our Sun," Study lead author and Leiden University Professor Melissa McClure said. Astronomers say HOPS-315 can be used to understand how our own solar system article source: See the baby solar system astronomers just spotted forming a planet for the first time Solve the daily Crossword
CTV News
16-07-2025
- Science
- CTV News
Astronomers capture the birth of planets around a baby sun outside our solar system
This image provided by the European Southern Observatory on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, shows jets of silicon monoxide blowing away from the baby star HOPS-315. (ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/M. McClure et al. via AP) 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?' ___ AP video journalist Javier Arciga contributed to this report. ___ 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
