Large dusty clumps around young star provide insight into how planets are born

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The astronomers said their “incredible discovery” revealed dust particles crashing into one another to form much larger clumps, which they believe could collapse to form new giant planets like Jupiter. Alice Zurlo, a researcher at the Universidad Diego Portales in Chile, said: “This discovery is truly captivating as it marks the very first detection of clumps around a young star that have the potential to give rise to giant planets.” V960 Mon first caught the eye of scientists in 2014 when it suddenly grew brighter in the distant sky. Ms Zurlo said: “With Alma, it became apparent that the spiral arms are undergoing fragmentation, resulting in the formation of clumps with masses akin to those of planets.” Astronomers believe giant planets like Jupiter form either by a process known as core accretion – when dust grains come together – or by a phenomenon known as gravitational instability – when large fragments of the material around a star contract and collapse. No one had ever seen a real observation of gravitational instability happening at planetary scales - until now Philipp Weber, University of Santiago Philipp Weber, a researcher at the University of Santiago in Chile, said: “No-one had ever seen a real observation of gravitational instability happening at planetary scales – until now.” Sebastian Perez, also from the University of Santiago, said: “Our group has been searching for signs of how planets form for over 10 years and we couldn’t be more thrilled about this incredible discovery.” As part of the next steps, astronomers will use another ESO instrument – the Extremely Large Telescope – to examine the star system in even greater detail.