Peering into a planet nursery: Astronomers capture two Jupiter-sized worlds being BORN in distant solar system

  • The two forming planets are surrounded by 'natal' disks of gas and dust
  • They are orbiting a star called HD100546 which is 335 light years away
  • HD100546 is around 1,000 times younger than our own sun
  • Scientists say it will help to reveal how our own solar system evolved

By RICHARD GRAY and VICTORIA WOOLLASTON FOR MAILONLINE

Published: | Updated:

A planet 'nursery' where new worlds are still being formed in a distant solar system has spotted by astronomers.

They claim to have spotted two Jupiter-like planets that are in the process of being born.

The planets, which are around 335 light years away, are surrounded by clouds of gas and dust that help to form their 'natal' environment.

Scientists claim to have seen a Jupiter-like planet in the process of forming around its host star in a solar system 335 light years away. HD100546b (pictured) is surrounded by a cloud of gas and dust that help to form its 'natal' environment. Scientists say it could provide clues about how our own solar system formed

Scientists claim to have seen a Jupiter-like planet in the process of forming around its host star in a solar system 335 light years away. HD100546b (pictured) is surrounded by a cloud of gas and dust that help to form its 'natal' environment. Scientists say it could provide clues about how our own solar system formed

They say the distant infants could provide valuable clues about how our own solar system formed around 4.6 billion years ago.

The planets are forming around a star known as HD100546.

Infrared images captured by the Gemini Planet Imager in Chile have revealed the presence of a disk of material forming around a planet called HD100546b.

HD 100546 AND OUR SOLAR SYSTEM

HD 100546 is a star, also known as KR Muscae, that sits around 325 light-years from Earth. 

It is a young star - only a thousandth of the age of the sun - surrounded by a disk-shaped structure of gas and dust, called a 'proto-planetary disk', in which planets can form. 

Estimated to be around 10 million years old, it is at the upper age limit of the Herbig Ae/Be stars and is said to be the closest example to our solar system.

Researchers believe it will eventually evolve into a sun like ours with planets surrounding it.

As a result, by studying the new star as it forms alongside its parent star, the astronomers are hoping it will shed light on how our own solar system formed around 4.5 billion years ago. 

This indicates that the planet is in the process of forming, while a fainter signal has been identified as a second possible planet forming.

This second one has been given the provisional name of HD100546c.

Ryan Cloutier, an astronomer at the University of Toronto who took part in the research, said there may be other giant planets hidden in the clouds of gas around the star.

He said: 'For HD100546, its spiral arms may suggest the presence of additional planets.

'In fact, one of the observed protoplanets might instead be a hotspot within the disk or a signpost of an unseen protoplanet.'

HD100546 is thought to be around 1,000 times younger than our own sun but is expected to eventually evolve into a star similar to our own.

The star is remarkably similar to HR 8799, the first multiple planet system directly imaged and discovered in 2008, but HR 8799's planets are fully formed.

'Now, seven years later, we can for the first time see what this planetary system may have looked like while the planets were just coming into existence,' said principal investigator Thayne Currie, astronomer at the Subaru Observatory.

Researchers also found a fainter signal they believe could be a second planet forming around the star (pictured). They used data gathered from the Gemini Planet Imager in Chile

Researchers also found a fainter signal they believe could be a second planet forming around the star (pictured). They used data gathered from the Gemini Planet Imager in Chile

Astronomers say the star HD100546 is 1,000 times younger than our sun, but the researchers believe it will eventually evolve into a star similar to ours. An artist's impression of the HD 100546 system is pictured

Astronomers say the star HD100546 is 1,000 times younger than our sun, but the researchers believe it will eventually evolve into a star similar to ours. An artist's impression of the HD 100546 system is pictured

A previous study using the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) based in Chile first identified the HD100546's protoplanetary disk of dust and cloud earlier this year.

Professor Rene Oudmaijer, an astronomer at the University of Leeds who was the co-author of that study, said: 'Considering the large distance that separates us from the star, the challenge was similar to trying to observe something the size of a pinhead from [62 miles] 100km away.' 

 

 

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