An international team of astrophysicists used the James Webb Space Telescope to study
The researchers used various filters onspace telescope instruments to find combinations of infrared wavelengths that allowed them to identify stars at different stages of their lives. They found a fair amount of dust around young, low-mass stars in NGC 346, collecting in a characteristic pattern consistent with planetary formation.
The researchers chose this area for analysis,since it most closely corresponds to the conditions of cosmic noon - the era of active star formation in the Universe, which began about 10 billion years ago. At that time, stars with low metallicity were mainly distributed in galaxies - the content of chemical elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. In addition, NGC 346 is much larger than other nearby star-forming regions, allowing scientists to see more clearly how stars interact with each other.
Star-forming region NGC 346 as seen by the James Webb Space Telescope. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Olivia C. Jones (UK ATC), Guido De Marchi (ESTEC), Margaret Meixner (USRA)
It was believed that the conditions around stars with lowmetal content prevents the concentration of dust inside the stellar disk and the formation of planets, scientists explain. Planets are formed by the accretion of materials from and around a star. It was assumed that the necessary components were missing around small young stars. But the observations of "James Webb" show that this is not the case. This means that planets could also form around young stars during the epoch of cosmic noon.
The authors of the study emphasize that,it is not known how the existence of more planets affects the possibility of life developing on them. In future studies, they plan to analyze the region's protoplanets for signs of certain substances, including water and carbon dioxide.
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