Astronomers just casually witnessed the birth of a new solar system
Astronomers have observed a solar system being formed for the first time, as hot gas condenses into solid minerals around the baby star (Picture: ESO)
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.
Jets of silicon monoxide blowing away from HOPS-315, a star located some 1300 light years from Earth (Picture: ESO)
This is HOPS-315, a baby star where astronomers have observed evidence for the earliest stages of planet formation (Picture: ESO)
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.
The pieces of matter begin to form tiny planets or ‘plantesimals’ before they form larger full size planets.
This chart shows the location of the nascent star HOPS-315 in the constellation Orion (Picture: ESO)
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.’
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