In News:

Astronomers, for the first time, have observed solid rock condensation from vapor around a newborn protostar, HOPS-315, located in the Orion Molecular Cloud. This breakthrough offers unprecedented insight into the earliest stages of rocky planet formation, similar to how Earth likely formed.

About HOPS-315

• Type: Protostar (young, still-forming star)
• Location: Orion constellation (~1,300 light-years from Earth)
• Key Feature: Surrounded by a tilted protoplanetary disc of dust and gas, allowing deep observational access to its planet-forming region.

Instruments & Research Collaboration

• Telescopes Used:
  • James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) – Spectral analysis via NIRSpec and MIRI instruments.
  • Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) – Millimeter-wavelength mapping of gases and dust.
• Research Consortium: Scientists from France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Taiwan, and the USA.
• Published In: Nature (2025)

Key Observations & Findings

• Crystallization Process:
  • Initial heating vaporizes dust (~1300 K near 1 AU from star).
  • Subsequent cooling condenses vapor into refractory minerals (e.g., forsterite, enstatite, silica).
• Spectroscopic Evidence:
  • Silicon monoxide (SiO) gas detected at ~470 K.
  • Presence of crystalline silicates within 2.2 AU of the star — the zone where rocky planets typically form.
• ALMA Findings:
  • Cooler gas in outer disc.
  • Absence of slow SiO outflows confirms crystals are part of the disc atmosphere — not stellar jets.

Why It Matters