Rocky planets may have formed just 100 million years after the Big Bang
New research suggests that the chemical ingredients for rocky planets were present in the universe just 100 million years after the Big Bang. Simulations indicate that early supernovae seeded gas clouds with heavy elements, enabling planet formation much earlier than previously thought.
Why it matters
This shifts our understanding of cosmic history, suggesting that the potential for life-supporting environments may have existed significantly earlier in the universe's timeline.
The ingredients needed to build rocky planets may have appeared as early as 100 million years after the Big Bang, according to new research from the University of Portsmouth. That would place the beginnings of planet formation remarkably close to the dawn of the Universe, even before the first galaxies had fully emerged.
Scientists have long thought that planets took much longer to become possible, with significant planet formation beginning several billion years into cosmic history. The new findings suggest that the necessary conditions may have developed far sooner.
The First Stars Seeded Space With Planet Ingredients
Some of the earliest stars were extremely massive and ended their lives in violent explosions. These stellar blasts spread large quantities of elements such as carbon, oxygen and iron into the surrounding gas.
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