Astronomers have made a groundbreaking discovery, capturing the first-ever images of an alien star system being born around a distant star. The team, led by Edwin Bergin from the University of Michigan, used two telescopes to study a baby star called HOPS-315, which is similar to our sun and located 1,300 light-years away.
The research reveals that the hot minerals surrounding the star are beginning to solidify, marking the earliest moments of planet formation. The team used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile to detect outflows of hot minerals around the star.
For the first time, scientists have observed planet-forming solids being detected, which could provide valuable insights into how our own solar system was born. The process is short-lived, lasting only 100,000 to 200,000 years, making it challenging to study in other systems.
The new image shows carbon monoxide and silicon monoxide flowing away from the star in a butterfly-shaped outflow, accompanied by a disk of gaseous silicon monoxide. This discovery sheds light on how rocky planets like Earth formed, which is believed to have occurred when silicates and carbon came together.
Bergin notes that “the story of planetary formation is the story of motion and movement.” The team plans to use ALMA again to study other young star systems with similar outflows, providing a deeper understanding of this critical phase in planetary formation.
Source: https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/in-a-cosmic-first-astronomers-spot-a-new-planet-system-being-born-around-an-alien-star