Astronomy: The beginning of planet formation observed for the first time
Various stages of planetary formation have already been observed, but not the beginning. That has now changed, thanks to two observatories.
Carbon monoxide (orange) and silicon monoxide (blue) around HOPS-315, the latter partially solidified.
(Image: ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/M. McClure et al.)
Using two of the most important astronomical instruments, a research group has observed for the first time the environment of a star in which planets are just beginning to form. This was announced by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). The evidence was found in hot minerals that are just beginning to solidify. They were analyzed using both the James Webb Space Telescope and the ALMA radio telescope array. This first-ever glimpse of a planetary system in such an early stage of its development also opens a window into the past of our own solar system.
Beginning of solidification
The observation was made of a proto- or “baby star” 1,300 light-years away from us, known as HOPS-315. It is surrounded by a protoplanetary disk, of which large numbers have already been detected. It is known that the crystalline material in these disks can eventually condense under extremely high temperatures. The condensed solids then clump together and form the raw material for emerging planets. Until now, only the parts of this process that take place before and after have been observed. What is remarkable here is that it is now possible to study precisely this part in between, the beginning of planet formation.
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Using the James Webb Space Telescope, silicon monoxide (SiO) has been detected in the dust disk around HOPS-315 – in both gaseous and solid form. This material, which occurs in the crystalline parts of the dust, is therefore just beginning to solidify. Using ESO's ALMA radio telescope array, it was then possible to determine that these signals come from the same area where the asteroid belt is located in our solar system. In the distant star system, the first chunks of rock are therefore forming in exactly the same place where most of our asteroids are located.
The star system therefore provides a “unique template” for studying the processes of planet formation as they took place around the Sun more than four billion years ago. The processes described have never been observed in a protoplanetary disk or anywhere else outside the solar system, adds co-author Edwin Bergin from the University of Michigan. At the same time, it highlights how successfully the James Webb Space Telescope and ALMA can explore protoplanetary disks together. The research has been published in the science magazine Nature.
(mho)
