Dawn of a New Solar System: Watch Planets Begin to Form 1300 Light-Years Away
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For the first time, astronomers witness the dawn of a new solar system
Astronomers have pinpointed the moment when planets began to form around a star beyond the Sun. Using the ALMA telescope, in which the European Southern Observatory is a partner, and the James Webb Space Telescope, they have observed the creation of the first specks of planet-forming material. This finding marks the first time a planetary system has been identified at such an early stage in its formation. It also provides astronomers with a new opportunity to study early planet formation by standing as a substitute for newborn solar systems across the galaxy. It suggests that HOPS-315 can be used to understand how early stage of planet formation happened in our Solar System. The findings were published today in the journal Nature. For confidential support call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details. In the U.S. call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255 or visit http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/.
‘For the first time, we have identified the earliest moment when planet formation is initiated around a star other than our Sun,’ says Melissa McClure, researcher at Leiden University in the Netherlands and lead author of the new study, published today in Nature.
Co-author Merel van ‘t Hoff, a professor at Purdue University, USA, compares their findings to ‘a picture of the baby Solar System’, saying that ‘we’re seeing a system that looks like what our Solar System looked like when it was just beginning to form.’
Birthplaces of new planets
This newborn planetary system is emerging around HOPS-315, a ‘proto’ or baby star that sits some 1300 light-years away from us and is an analogue of the nascent Sun. Around such baby stars, astronomers often see discs of gas and dust known as ‘protoplanetary discs’, which are the birthplaces of new planets. While astronomers have previously seen young discs that contain newborn, massive, Jupiter-like planets, McClure says, ‘we’ve always known that the first solid parts of planets, or ‘planetesimals’, must form further back in time, at earlier stages.’
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Primordial rocks determine when the clock started running
In our Solar System, the very first solid material to condense near Earth’s present location around the Sun is found trapped within ancient meteorites. Astronomers age-date these primordial rocks to determine when the clock started on our Solar System’s formation. Such meteorites are packed full of crystalline minerals that contain silicon monoxide (SiO) and can condense at the extremely high temperatures present in young planetary discs. Over time, these newly condensed solids bind together, sowing the seeds for planet formation as they gain both size and mass. The first kilometre-sized planetesimals in the Solar System, which grew to become planets such as Earth or Jupiter’s core, formed just after the condensation of these crystalline minerals.
With their new discovery, astronomers have found evidence of these hot minerals beginning to condense in the disc around HOPS-315. Their results show that SiO is present around the baby star in its gaseous state, as well as within these crystalline minerals, suggesting it is only just beginning to solidify. ‘This process has never been seen before in a protoplanetary disc — or anywhere outside our Solar System,’ says co-author Edwin Bergin, a professor at the University of Michigan, USA.
With the help of James Webb and ALMA
These minerals were first identified using the James Webb Space Telescope, a joint project of the US, European and Canadian space agencies. To find out where exactly the signals were coming from, the team observed the system with ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, which is operated by ESO together with international partners in Chile’s Atacama Desert.
With these data, the team determined that the chemical signals were coming from a small region of the disc around the star equivalent to the orbit of the asteroid belt around the Sun. ‘We’re really seeing these minerals at the same location in this extrasolar system as where we see them in asteroids in the Solar System,’ says co-author Logan Francis, a postdoctoral researcher at Leiden University.
Analogy for studying our own cosmic history
Because of this, the disc of HOPS-315 provides a wonderful analogue for studying our own cosmic history. As van ‘t Hoff says, ‘this system is one of the best that we know to actually probe some of the processes that happened in our Solar System.’ It also provides astronomers with a new opportunity to study early planet formation, by standing in as a substitute for newborn solar systems across the galaxy.
ESO astronomer and European ALMA Programme Manager Elizabeth Humphreys, who did not take part in the study, says: ‘I was really impressed by this study, which reveals a very early stage of planet formation. 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.’
Scientific article
This research was presented in the paper ‘Refractory solid condensation detected in an embedded protoplanetary disk’ (doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09163-z) in Nature.
This press release originally appeared on eso.org.
Here’s how a star beyond Earth’s sun could offer a ‘picture of the baby solar system’
Astronomers have for the first time ever witnessed the birth of a planetary system beyond Earth’s sun that could one day resemble our own. The newborn planetary system appears to be emerging 1,300 light-years away around a baby star known as HOPS-315. Using data from ground and space telescopes, the researchers were able to pinpoint the moment when the first specks of planet-forming material began to coalesce around the protostar. The finding marks a major milestone in the study of planetary formation and opens a window into the past of our own solar system, researchers say in a press release from the European Space Observatory. It also provides astronomers with new information to study early planet formation that could serve as a model for newborn solar systems across the galaxy. The research was published in the journal Nature and could help astronomers glean more insights into our own cosmic history. The study was led by Melissa McClure, an astronomer at Leiden University in the Netherlands.
The newborn planetary system appears to be emerging 1,300 light-years away around a baby star known as HOPS-315 that resembles a young version of the Earth’s own sun. Using data from ground and space telescopes, the researchers were able to pinpoint the moment when the first specks of planet-forming material began to coalesce around the protostar.
The finding marks a major milestone in the study of planetary formation and opens a window into the past of our own solar system, the researchers say in a press release from the European Space Observatory.
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“For the first time, we have identified the earliest moment when planet formation is initiated around a star other than our sun,” lead researcher Melissa McClure, an astronomer at Leiden University in the Netherlands, said in a statement.
How do planets form? Our solar system holds clues
Stars form when an accumulation of gas and dust collapses because of gravity. Scientists think that generally what follows is the formation of planets, which emerge from the giant, doughnut-shaped disk of gas and dust that circles young stars, known as protoplanetary discs.
In our solar system, the first solid material to condense near Earth around the sun is found trapped within ancient meteorites – or rocks from space that survive their trip through Earth’s atmosphere.
Astronomers can determine the age of these space rocks to calculate when the clock started on the solar system’s formation.
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Because meteorites are packed with crystalline minerals that contain silicon monoxide, they can condense at the extremely high temperatures present in young planetary discs. Over time, these condensed solids bind together in a process that kickstarts planet formation as they gain both size and mass.
Jupiter’s gravity, often called the “architect” of our solar system, played a critical role in shaping the orbits of other planets and sculpting the disk of gas and dust from which they formed.
Webb telescope helps spot planetary formation around HOPS-315
This baby star is where astronomers have observed evidence for the earliest stages of planet formation. Observations show that hot minerals are beginning to solidify as a disc of gaseous silicon monoxide around the star is condensing into solid silicates.
Now, evidence of these hot minerals were found just beginning to solidify in the disc around HOPS-315.
The minerals were first identified using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. To trace the origin of the signals, the team turned to the ground-based Atacama Large Millimeter/ submillimeter Array (ALMA), an array of 66 radio telescopes located in the desert of northern Chile.
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The data from the observatories suggested that the chemical signals were coming from a small region of the disc around the star equivalent to the orbit of the asteroid belt around the Earth’s sun, according to the researchers.
Findings serve as ‘picture of the baby solar system’
It’s not uncommon for astronomers to see protoplanetary discs containing infant Jupiter-like planets around baby stars like HOPS-315. But scientists have always known that the first solid parts of planets, known as planetesimals, must form much earlier.
Merel van ‘t Hoff, an astronomer at Purdue University who co-authored the research, compares the findings to “a picture of the baby solar system.”
“We’re seeing a system that looks like what our solar system looked like when it was just beginning to form,” van ‘t Hoff said in a statement.
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For that reason, the discovery could help astronomers glean more insights into our own cosmic history. It also provides astronomers with new information to study early planet formation that could serve as a model for newborn solar systems across the galaxy.
The research was published July 16 in the journal Nature.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New solar system similar to Earth’s seen by astronomers
Astronomers witness dawn of new solar system for 1st time
Astronomers have witnessed the birth of a solar system beyond our own for the first time. Data captured by the ALMA telescope in Chile and the James Webb Space Telescope. A gaseous disk surrounding the young star is the first stages of the assembly process to form a new planetary system, according to the paper. The discovery opens a window into the past of our own solar system, since the new formation of the new system is likely to have occurred at the dawn of the planetary system that we know to be home to, astronomers said. The finding marks the. first time a planetary system has been identified at such an early stage of its formation, it was not yet proven that massive planets, such as Jupiter, must form further in time, the study said. But the specific process of the solar system’s formation remains unclear, the researchers said. They found evidence that these hot minerals have begun to condense in the disc surrounding the protostar, named HOPS-315 in the constellation Orion.
An international team of researchers has been able to pinpoint the exact moment when planets began to form around a star by using data captured by the ALMA telescope in Chile and the James Webb Space Telescope, according to a study published in Nature on Wednesday.
MORE: 100 undiscovered galaxies could be orbiting the Milky Way, according to new research
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The astronomers observed hot minerals just beginning to solidify – the first specks of planet-forming material, the astronomers said. A gaseous disk surrounding the young star is the first stages of the assembly process to form a new planetary system, according to the paper.
“For the first time, we have identified the earliest moment when planet formation is initiated around a star other than our Sun,” Melissa McClure, a professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands and lead author of the study, said in a statement released by the European Southern Observatory (ESO).
ESO – PHOTO: These images illustrate how hot gas condenses into solid minerals around the baby star HOPS-315.
Planets and small bodies like those in our solar system likely formed through the mixture of interstellar solids with rocky solids that condense from the hot gases surrounding a young host star, astronomers hypothesize. But the specific process of the solar system’s formation remains unclear.
In our solar system, the first solid material to condense near Earth’s present location orbiting the sun is found trapped within ancient meteorites, according to the ESO. Over time, the newly condensed solids bind together and begin the planet formation process as they gain both size and mass.
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MORE: Webb telescope discovers stars forming in ‘toe beans’ of Cat’s Paw Nebula
Researchers say they found evidence that these hot minerals have begun to condense in the disc surrounding the young star, or protostar, named HOPS-315.
“This process has never been seen before in a protoplanetary disc – or anywhere outside our solar system,” said Edwin Bergin, an astronomer at the University of Michigan and co-author of the paper, in a statement.
ESO, IAU and Sky & Telescope – PHOTO: This chart shows the location of the nascent star HOPS-315 in the constellation Orion.
The protostar is located in the Orion B molecular cloud, around 1,300 light-years from Earth, according to the paper, and is positioned in a way that allows a direct view of its inner gaseous disk. One light year is approximately 5.9 trillion miles.
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The view is rare because jets of gas emitted by protostars, known as outflow, often block the view of the disk, the researchers said.
MORE: Astronomers spot ‘interstellar object’ speeding through solar system
Astronomers were able to observe solids starting to condense from the cooling gas – known as “time zero” for planet formation – by using infrared and millimeter wavelengths from the ground- and space-based telescopes, the researchers said. The Webb telescope, the most powerful telescope ever launched into space, was used to probe the chemical makeup of the material around the protostar, detecting crystalline silicate materials that are a “telltale sign” of early planet formation, according to the paper.
The chemical signals appear to be coming from a small region of the disc around the star that’s equivalent to the orbit of the asteroid belt around our own sun, according to the ESO.
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“This hot mineral is the first feedstock that you have to start growing things in the dark,” McClure said.
ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) – PHOTO: This is HOPS-315, a baby star where astronomers have observed evidence for the earliest stages of planet formation.
The finding marks the first time a planetary system has been identified at such an early stage. While astronomers have previously seen young discs that contain newborn, massive planets like Jupiter, it was not yet proven that the first solid parts of nascent planets, known as planetesimals, must form further back in time, at earlier stages, McClure said.
The discovery opens a window into the past of our own solar system, since the formation of the new system likely mimics the conditions that occurred at the dawn of the planetary system that is home to Earth, astronomers said.
“This system is one of the best that we know to actually probe some of the processes that happened in our solar system,” said Merel van ’t Hoff, an astronomer at Purdue University and co-author of the study, said in a statement released by Nature.
Birth of a Solar System Witnessed in Spectacular Scientific First
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways: Around a Sun-like star just 1,300 light-years away, a family of planets has been seen in its earliest moments of conception. Astronomers analyzed the infrared flow of dust and detritus left over from the formation of a baby star called HOPS-315. They found tiny concentrations of hot minerals that will eventually form planetesimals – the ‘seeds’ around which new planets will grow. It’s a system that can tell us about the very first steps of planet formation, and may even contain clues about how our own Solar System formed. The planets in these systems were already pretty well formed. There’s enough similarity between the two that Hops-315 may help us understand the early years of our Solar System. We can only study the formation based on material in its existing state.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways
Around a Sun-like star just 1,300 light-years away, a family of planets has been seen in its earliest moments of conception.
Astronomers analyzed the infrared flow of dust and detritus left over from the formation of a baby star called HOPS-315, finding tiny concentrations of hot minerals that will eventually form planetesimals – the ‘seeds’ around which new planets will grow.
It’s a system that can tell us about the very first steps of planet formation, and may even contain clues about how our own Solar System formed.
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“For the first time, we have identified the earliest moment when planet formation is initiated around a star other than our Sun,” says astronomer Melissa McClure of Leiden University in the Netherlands.
Related: The Oldest Known Material on Earth Is Officially Older Than The Solar System
A selection of protoplanetary disks imaged by ALMA. Some have discernible gaps where baby planets are thought to be forming. ( ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), S. Andrews et al.; N. Lira
By studying other stars at different stages of the process, we more or less know how planets are born.
Stars themselves form from dense clouds of molecular gas and dust in space; when a clump of material in these clouds is dense enough, it collapses under gravity to form the seed of a star.
As the baby star spins, the material around it coalesces into a disk that whirls around and feeds the star’s growth. When the star grows large enough, its protostellar winds push the material out of reach, where it continues to orbit, cooling and clumping together. This is the beginning of the planet formation process.
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Astronomers have seen baby planets forming in these protoplanetary disks, leaving noticeable gaps in the material as they travel, gravitationally clearing the path of their orbit.
However, the planets in these systems were already pretty well formed. HOPS-315 represents the earliest stage at which we’ve ever seen the process of planet formation.
The observations were made using JWST for infrared wavelengths, and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) for radio wavelengths, two of the most powerful telescopes humanity has produced.
McClure and her colleagues identified wavelengths of light associated with warm silicon monoxide gas and grains of crystalline silicate minerals – a signature associated with silicon cooling from a gas into a solid state.
A diagram with illustrative insets demonstrating the condensation of silicon monoxide into silicate minerals around HOPS-315. ( ESO/L. Calçada/ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/M. McClure et al.
“This process has never been seen before in a protoplanetary disc – or anywhere outside our Solar System,” says astrophysicist Edwin Bergin of the University of Michigan in the US.
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The newborn planet signature was located at a distance of about 2.2 astronomical units from the host star. That’s a distance similar to the distance of the Solar System’s asteroid belt from the Sun, in the space between Mars and Jupiter.
We can only study the formation of our own Solar System based on material in its existing state. Sometimes that involves finding ancient minerals that have survived intact since the system was born 4.5 billion or so years ago; sometimes it involves studying asteroids and comets that have not undergone as much change as the planets have. Either way, it takes detailed detective work.
An orange dwarf just 60 percent of the mass of the Sun, HOPS-315 is still growing, fed by flows of hot gas. In one million years, it should be about the same mass as our own star. There’s enough similarity between the two that HOPS-315 may help us understand the early years of our Solar System.
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“We’re seeing a system that looks like what our Solar System looked like when it was just beginning to form,” says physicist and astronomer Merel van ‘t Hoff of Purdue University in the US.
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“This system is one of the best that we know to actually probe some of the processes that happened in our Solar System.”
At this point, HOPS-315 is just one datapoint in a whole galaxy. Whether other systems undergo the same processes in the same way is yet to be discovered – but now we know, with ever more powerful telescopes bursting onto the scene, that finding them is within our grasp.
The research has been published in Nature.
Related News
Researchers observe early state of planet formation beyond Earth’s sun
Researchers from the United States, Canada and Europe saw the hot space minerals just as they began to solidify. The process was witnessed around the baby star HOPS-315, an analog for the budding sun, that is 1,300 light years away from Earth. Researchers had previously witnessed young discs of gas and dust called “protoplanetary discs” that were the birthplace for newly formed Jupiter-like planets.
The researchers from the United States, Canada and Europe saw the hot space minerals just as they began to solidify, marking the earliest stage in the planet-forming process that researchers have witnessed.
“For the first time, we have identified the earliest moment when planet formation is initiated around a star other than our sun,” professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands, Melissa McClure said.
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The process was witnessed around the baby star HOPS-315, an analog for the budding sun, that is 1,300 light years away from Earth.
Researchers had previously witnessed young discs of gas and dust called “protoplanetary discs” that were the birthplace for newly formed Jupiter-like planets but the latest showed an earlier stage that scientists had never observed before.
“We’ve always known that the first solid parts of planets, or ‘planetesimals,’ must form further back in time, at earlier stages,” McClure said.
Researchers first identified the minerals using the James Webb Telescope and then observed the system with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, or ALMA, to determine where the signals were coming from.
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The findings showed that silicon monoxide, or SiO, which has the potential to condense in the high temperatures found in young planetary discs, can be found when baby stars are in their gaseous state, meaning it was just beginning to solidify.
“This process has never been seen before in a protoplanetary disc or anywhere outside our Solar System,” Professor at the University of Michigan, Edwin Bergin said.
Andrew Sookdeo contributed to this report.