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https://apnews.com/article/solar-system-planet-formation-e668251436f90af0fc9462e208550187
Astronomers capture the birth of planets around a baby sun outside our
solar system
By MARCIA DUNN
Updated 12:47 PM PDT, July 16, 2025
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) rCo 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.
ItrCOs an unprecedented snapshot of rCLtime zero,rCY scientists reported Wednesday, when new worlds begin to gel.
rCLWerCOve captured a direct glimpse of the hot region where rocky planets like Earth are born around young protostars,rCY said Leiden ObservatoryrCOs Melissa McClure from the Netherlands, who led the international research
team. rCLFor the first time, we can conclusively say that the first steps
of planet formation are happening right now.rCY
The observations offer a unique glimpse into the inner workings of an
emerging planetary system, said the University of ChicagorCOs Fred Ciesla,
who was not involved in the study appearing in the journal Nature.
rCLThis is one of the things werCOve been waiting for. Astronomers have been thinking about how planetary systems form for a long period of time,rCY
Ciesla said. rCLThererCOs a rich opportunity here.rCY
NASArCOs 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. ItrCOs 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.
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In a cosmic first, McClure and her team stared deep into the gas disk
around the baby star and detected solid specks condensing rCo 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 whatrCOs 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 systemrCOs planets.
The condensing of hot minerals was never detected before around other
young stars, rCLso we didnrCOt know if it was a universal feature of planet formation or a weird feature of our solar system,rCY McClure said in an
email. rCLOur study shows that it could be a common process during the earliest stage of planet formation.rCY
While other research has looked at younger gas disks and, more commonly, mature disks with potential planet wannabes, thererCOs been no specific evidence for the start of planet formation until now, McClure said.
In a stunning picture taken by the ESOrCOs Alma telescope network, the emerging planetary system resembles a lightning bug glowing against the
black void.
ItrCOs impossible to know how many planets might form around HOPS-315.
With a gas disk as massive as the sunrCOs might have been, it could also
wind up with eight planets a million or more years from now, according
to McClure.
Purdue UniversityrCOs Merel van rCOt 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.
rCLAre there Earth-like planets out there or are we like so special that
we might not expect it to occur very often?rCY
___
AP video journalist Javier Arciga contributed to this report.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from
the Howard Hughes Medical InstituterCOs Department of Science Education
and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for
all content.
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