New solar system formation observed by researchers for the first time
In a groundbreaking discovery, a team of astronomers led by Melissa McClure has observed the earliest stage of planet formation around a protostar, HOPS-315, located approximately 1,300 light-years away in the Orion B molecular cloud. This marks the first time such a process has been observed in a protoplanetary disk or anywhere outside our solar system.
The observation of HOPS-315 provides the first definitive evidence of the "time zero" of planet formation, offering a valuable window into the physical and chemical conditions that give rise to planets like Earth. The discovery, published in the prestigious journal *Nature* on July 17, 2025, represents a significant leap forward in understanding the origin of planetary systems.
HOPS-315 is a Class I protostar, estimated to be 100,000 to 200,000 years old—an extremely young object in astronomical terms. Its unique orientation provided a rare, unobstructed view of its inner gaseous disk through a natural gap in the surrounding material.
Astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope’s powerful infrared instruments and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study the disk around HOPS-315. These tools allowed the team to analyze both the chemical composition and the physical structure of the gas and dust surrounding the star.
Direct observations revealed that the disk was beginning to cool and condense, forming the earliest solid materials—precursors to rocky planets. These solid particles are seen as the very first step in planetary formation, marking the transition from a simple gas and dust disk to a site of active planetesimal growth. The environment and processes detected around HOPS-315 closely resemble what models predict for the early stages of our own solar system.
The minerals found in this extrasolar system are in the same place where similar minerals are found in asteroids in our solar system. This could explain why some asteroids in our system also contain inclusions of such early minerals. The silicate crystals of the new star come from a zone about twice as far from the star as the Earth is from the sun.
This discovery offers a unique opportunity to study planet formation around another star besides our sun. The Earth and other planets of our solar system were formed around 4.6 billion years ago. Understanding the processes that led to their formation in another system could provide valuable insights into the history of our own planetary system.
The observations of protostar HOPS-315 and its protoplanetary disk allow for the study of some processes that also occurred in our solar system. Nuclear fusion in the center led to the formation of the sun, where hydrogen was converted into helium and released enormous amounts of energy. This solar nebula of hydrogen, helium, and dust particles was created by a shock wave from a nearby supernova explosion.
As these gases cooled, minerals such as calcium- and aluminum-rich silicate minerals formed, which were the first building blocks for the planetary system. The minerals found in this extrasolar system are the first precursors of the rock fragments that later become planets. Until now, astronomers have not been able to directly observe this early stage of planet formation due to the growing and attracting large amounts of material from a surrounding shell of gas and dust by the protostar.
This discovery represents a landmark in astronomy, directly linking observation to the theoretical models of planetary system genesis and illuminating the earliest moments of planet formation around a young, sun-like star. Continued monitoring of HOPS-315 and similar objects may help answer long-standing questions about how worlds like ours begin, and how common these processes are throughout the galaxy.
- This discovery in the field of space and astronomy provides insights into the origins of planetary systems, specifically in the area of health-and-wellness by exploring the early formation of Earth-like planets.
- The study of HOPS-315, a Class I protostar, is not only significant for science but also for the understanding of fitness-and-exercise, as it reveals how the first solid materials form, leading to the development of rocky planets.
- This research in environmental-science, focusing on the Orion B molecular cloud, could potentially shed light on the health of future habitats, as the conditions detected around HOPS-315 resemble those of our own planetary system's early stages.
