Recently, astronomers observed rocky planet formation for the first time by detecting minerals condensing from vapor around a young star named HOPS‑315. HOPS‑315 is a newborn protostar located 1,300 light-years away in the Orion molecular cloud. It has a rotating protoplanetary disc of gas and dust, tilted in a way that allows Earth-based telescopes to view its inner region clearly. This rare view helped scientists directly witness the earliest stages of rocky planet formation. The minerals found—like forsterite and enstatite—match those in chondritic meteorites on Earth. This discovery closely mirrors how our own Solar System may have formed.
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