Telescope Images Show Planets Beginning To Form Around Baby Star
The earliest formation of planets around a star has been captured by our long-range telescopes, according to international researchers.
Combining an image from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array with data from the James Webb Space Telescope, the researchers have observed hot minerals around a baby star called HOPS-315 that are beginning to solidify – a process that will likely lead to the development of planets around the star.
Melissa McClure and colleagues studied HOPS-315, a young star (or protostar) located in the Orion B molecular cloud, around 420 parsecs from Earth. The protostar is positioned in a way that allows a direct view of its inner gaseous disk, through a cavity in its outer envelope.
When they compared these observations with models, they suggest that the conditions resemble those necessary for the formation of planets similar to those in the Solar System.