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Space photo of the week: James Webb and Hubble telescopes unite to solve 'impossible' planet mystery

Feb 03, 2025
In space, there is a cluster of stars called NGC 346. It is 210,000 light-years away in the constellation Tucana. The James Webb Space Telescope recently took a picture of this star cluster, helping scientists understand how planets form. Stars form in clouds of gas and dust, which leftover material forming disks around them. Planets then form from these disks. Scientists used to think early stars didn't have planets because they lacked heavier elements like carbon and iron. But, in 2003, Hubble discovered an ancient planet orbiting a star in a globular cluster without the heavier elements. This discovery challenged previous ideas about when planets formed in the universe. To learn more about how planets formed early in the universe's history, astronomers studied the star cluster NGC 346. This star-forming region lacks heavier elements and is similar to ancient galaxies. When Hubble looked at NGC 346, it found signs of long-lived planet-forming disks around stars. In 2024, the James Webb Space Telescope confirmed these findings, showing that planet-forming disks can exist for longer than scientists previously thought. The lack of heavier elements may slow down the dispersal of the disk, giving planets more time to form. Overall, this discovery helps scientists understand how planets formed in the early universe. By studying stars like those in NGC 346, astronomers can learn more about the conditions that led to the creation of planets billions of years ago. The James Webb Space Telescope continues to provide valuable insights into the mysteries of the cosmos.

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