This week on The Cosmic Companion, we look at lil' baby planets, discussing the birth of solar systems.

Later in the episode, we will be joined by University of Arizona astrophysicist Feng Long. She has recently developed a new means of finding young exoplanets as they form in clouds of gas and dust.

But first, let's learn a little bit about how planets and solar systems form around the Cosmos. Planets coalesce from gas and dust revolving around their developing stars in formations known as protoplanetary disks.

Finding young worlds in these dusky abodes is challenging at best. While planets hide within their shadowy sanctuaries, astronomers must rummage for indirect signs of planets in their infancies.

Roughly 4.5 billion years ago, a massive cloud of gas and dust began to collapse inward, perhaps triggered by the gravitational influence of a passing star. This event would, eventually, give rise to our Solar System...

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Clear skies!

James

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