07/30/2025
Astronomers just witnessed the earliest stages of planet formation around a young star called HOPS-315, offering a real-time glimpse into what our solar system might have looked like over 4.5 billion years ago.
Using the Webb Space Telescope and the European Southern Observatory, scientists spotted hot minerals beginning to condense in the star’s gas disk. These are the very same ingredients that once helped shape Earth, Mars, and the rest of our planetary neighbors.
It’s the first time this process has been captured so early. And it’s raising new questions about whether rocky worlds like ours are more common than we once thought.
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Scientists say it's an unprecedented snapshot of “time zero,” when new worlds begin to gel.