Astronomers have observed the earliest stages of planet formation around the baby star HOPS-315, 1,300 light-years away. The international team, including scientists from Chalmers University of Technology and Onsala Space Observatory, analyzed chemical signals that reveal the first building blocks of rocky planets.
Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope and the ALMA observatory, the researchers detected hot minerals containing silicon monoxide in the star’s protoplanetary disc. This provides a rare glimpse into what our own Solar System looked like billions of years ago. The discovery demonstrates Sweden’s role in advancing our understanding of how planetary systems form and evolve from stardust into worlds.
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Image: James Webb Space Telescope (left) and a few of the 66 antennas in the ALMA telescope, in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Credits: ESO/José Francisco Salgado and NASA/ESA/CSA