{"id":17253,"date":"2026-02-14T11:50:05","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T16:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/?p=17253"},"modified":"2026-02-14T11:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T16:50:10","slug":"nasa-finds-where-planets-are-born","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/nasa-finds-where-planets-are-born\/17253\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s where planets are born \u2014 NASA finds the Earth-factory and watches “something disturbing” glowing inside"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve seen breathtaking space photos before. But what if you were looking at the exact moment a planet begins to form?<\/span><\/p>\n

Scientists have just captured sharper imagery of a region where new worlds are taking shape \u2014 using one of the most iconic telescopes ever built.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is s a glimpse into the process that once created Earth itself. What those images reveal could change how you think about where <\/span>planets \u2014 and maybe even life \u2014 actually begin<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Outer space is one of the most magnificent places<\/h2>\n

When you look up at the night sky, it feels endless. But what are you actually seeing? It\u2019s just a tiny slice of what\u2019s out there.<\/span><\/p>\n

And here\u2019s the wild part. <\/span>The universe is expanding right now.<\/b> As you\u2019re reading this, distant galaxies are moving farther away. Some regions are drifting beyond what we\u2019ll ever be able to observe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Using the powerful eyes of the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists have zoomed in on one of those cosmic nurseries. And what they\u2019re seeing inside isn\u2019t just beautiful. It\u2019s strange.<\/span><\/p>\n

Something is <\/span>glowing where it shouldn\u2019t be<\/span><\/a>. And that\u2019s where the story really begins.<\/span><\/p>\n

We can finally see the place where planets are born <\/h2>\n

At first, it looks like just another stunning space image. <\/span><\/p>\n

But then you realize what you\u2019re actually looking at. A protoplanetary disk \u2014 the swirling mix of gas and dust that forms <\/span>around a young star after it\u2019s born<\/span><\/a>. The kind of structure that eventually gives rise to planets. And this one isn\u2019t small.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nicknamed \u201cDracula\u2019s Chivito,\u201d the disk formally known as IRAS 23077+6707 stretches about <\/span>40 times wider<\/b> than the diameter of our entire solar system. It sits roughly 1,000 light-years away, but its scale is hard to ignore.<\/span><\/p>\n

Forty times. That\u2019s not a subtle difference. That\u2019s enormous.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s more than just a planet-factory. It’s a true monster <\/h2>\n

Hubble has captured spectacular cosmic scenes before \u2014 glowing nebulae, jets of gas blasting from dying stars, and intricate interstellar clouds. But this disk stands out for a different reason. <\/span>Its size alone would be impressive.<\/b><\/p>\n

Yet astronomers say that\u2019s not the most unusual part.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recent findings suggest that IRAS 23077+6707 doesn\u2019t behave quite like other protoplanetary disks. There\u2019s something about its structure, its composition, or the way it\u2019s evolving that makes researchers pause.<\/span><\/p>\n

Which raises an intriguing question. If most planetary systems start from similar spinning disks, why does this one look so different?<\/span><\/p>\n

Because once you realize how massive it is \u2014 and how unusual it appears \u2014 you start to wonder <\/span>what kind of planetary system could possibly emerge<\/b> from something like this. And that\u2019s where things get interesting.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to NASA<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

“The disk is unexpectedly chaotic and turbulent, with wisps of material stretching much farther above and below the disk than astronomers have seen in any similar system.”<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So what is glowing inside this enormous disk?<\/h2>\n

On paper, this disk sounds familiar. Gas. Dust. A young star at the center. That\u2019s how planetary systems begin. But when you look closer, it\u2019s not that simple.<\/span><\/p>\n

The star inside IRAS 23077+6707 isn\u2019t shining clearly into space the way our Sun does. It\u2019s still forming, still wrapped in thick material. The gas around it is so dense that the <\/span>star\u2019s direct glow is largely hidden<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Hubble detects isn\u2019t straightforward starlight. It\u2019s radiation that\u2019s been absorbed and re-emitted by the surrounding gas. Light that\u2019s been processed, scattered, and reshaped before it ever reaches the telescope. In other words, you\u2019re not seeing the star clearly.<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019re seeing the effect of everything wrapped around it. And that dense envelope of material matters.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is it simply a scaled-up version of a typical planetary nursery? Or is something fundamentally different taking shape inside that thick cocoon of gas? Because until the dust clears \u2014 literally \u2014 the<\/span> full picture remains just out of reach<\/b>. Just as our <\/span>understanding of the universe around us<\/span><\/a> is.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve seen breathtaking space photos before. But what if you were looking at the exact moment a planet begins to form? Scientists have just captured sharper imagery of a region where new worlds are taking shape \u2014 using one of the most iconic telescopes ever built. This is s a glimpse into the process that … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":17275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"where planets are born,Hubble Space Telescope","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"The Hubble Space Telescope has once again, managed to impress us all. New images of the 'place where planets are born 'have been captured in better detail.","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}