Birth of planet captured: Astronomers share rare glimpses of newborn planet about 1,300 light-yrs away

Time of India

6 days ago

For the first time, a team of researchers has captured the birth of a planet around a star beyond our Sun. The observations captured the very beginnings of
planet formation
, a rare glimpse into the cosmic process that gives rise to Earth-like planets around a star.
Observations were made using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope and
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope
to capture the formation of a new planetary system. Scientists detected the formation of the first specks of planet-building material around a baby star named
HOPS-315
, located about 1,300 light-years away.
HOPS-315 is considered a 'proto-star', meaning it's in the earliest stage of stellar evolution. These young stars are often surrounded by protoplanetary discs - rotating clouds of gas and dust where planets are born.
This image shows jets of silicon monoxide (SiO) blowing away from the baby star HOPS-315. (Pic credit: ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/M. McClure et al.)
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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," said Melissa McClure, lead author of the study from Leiden University in the Netherlands. The findings were published in the journal
Nature
.
The team found evidence of silicon monoxide (SiO) gas and solid crystalline minerals in the disc surrounding HOPS-315. This suggests that planet-forming materials are beginning to condense from gas into solid particles, an evolutionary phase in the birth of planets.
"This process has never been seen before in a
protoplanetary disc
— or anywhere outside our Solar System," said Edwin Bergin, co-author and professor at the University of Michigan, USA.
The discovery unveils a never-before-seen phase in planet formation and opens a new window into studying how planetary systems like our own come into being.