Astronomers today said they had observed the moment when planets start forming around a distant star for the first time, revealing a process that sheds light on the birth of our own solar system. The new planetary system is forming around the baby star HOPS-315 – which resembles our own Sun in its youth – 1300 light years from Earth in the Orion Nebula.

Astronomers have observed the earliest stage of planet formation around a distant young star - for the first time ever. The baby star, called HOPS-315, is located about 1,300 light years away in the Orion Nebula and is similar to what our Sun looked like in its early years.