NASA’s Webb finds signs of Mars-sized worlds smashing together
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has identified extreme debris disks around young stars, suggesting violent planetary collisions similar to the one that formed Earth's Moon. These findings help scientists understand the formation and evolution of rocky planets.
Why it matters
Advances our understanding of planetary formation and the history of our own solar system through the study of distant star systems.
Scientists think one of the most important events in the early solar system was a colossal collision between the young Earth and a Mars-sized body known as Theia. The impact likely vaporized huge quantities of rock and hurled material into space. Some of that debris eventually came together to form the Moon, where NASA's Artemis program is returning humans, preparing for Mars, and shaping the future of space exploration.
That ancient impact dramatically altered Earth. Now, astronomers are using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to investigate young star systems that appear to be experiencing similarly violent events. By studying these systems, researchers can estimate how energetic the collisions were and learn more about how rocky planets form and evolve.
The team's findings published Oct 1. in The Astrophysical Journal .
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