The star is surrounded by a protoplanetary disk, and this disk is the first evidence of debris condensing into what will eventually become planets and other objects. Observing this early phase of evolution around a protostar will allow scientists to learn more about the formation of our own Solar System.

The astronomers observed hot minerals just beginning to solidify – the first specks of planet-forming material, the astronomers said. A gaseous disk surrounding the young star is the first stages of the assembly process to form a new planetary system, according to the paper.

Astronomers first identified these minerals using the now-three-year-old James Webb Space Telescope. To see where exactly the signals were coming from, they studied the system with the ALAMA telescope, which is operated by the European Space Agency with international partners in Chile’s Atacama Desert.