Free Astronomy Magazine September-October 2025

35 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2025 T his is HOPS-315, a baby star where astronomers have observed evidence for the earliest stages of planet formation. The image was taken with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which ESO is a partner. Together with data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), these observations show that hot minerals are be- ginning to solidify. In orange we see the distribution of carbon monoxide, blowing away from the star in a butterfly-shaped wind. In blue we see a narrow jet of silicon monoxide, also beaming away from the star. These gaseous winds and jets are common around baby stars like HOPS-315. Together the ALMA and JWST observations indicate that, in addi- tion to these features, there is also a disc of gaseous silicon monoxide around the star that is condensing into solid silicates –– the first stages of planetary for- mation. [ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/M. McClure et al.] ASTRO PUBLISHING