Summary

Description	NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is unraveling the mystery of how the Earth evolved out of space dust. New Spitzer images have revealed significant amounts of icy dust particles, that may help explain the origin of planet-forming discs. Sprinkled throughout the dusky clouds, almost 14,000 light-years from Earth, are more than 300 never-before-seen newborn stars. NASA scientists are finding that stars are being born inside a dense, icy veil of planet-forming, or 'protoplanetary' gas and dust. These icy dust particles may have even given Earth some of its water and many of its life-giving materials. In another part of the galaxy the telescope's sensitive infrared eyes have discovered the youngest planet ever detected. At the age of less than one million years, the planet is just an infant. Earth is about four and a half billion years old. Spitzer's discovery of the newest planet-forming discs ever observed, shows that a very active process is taking place in our Milky Way galaxy.
Date	2004-06-15
Source	images.nasa.gov

Licensing

Public Domain (US Government Work)