Dust Suggests Universe Crowded with Earthlike Planets
Scientists have identified an area in space called the Orion Nebula where tiny specks of dust are growing into infant planets. Conditions there favor the development of Earth- and Mars-sized planets, which have the potential for developing life, rather than gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn.
?We?ve never seen dust in astrophysics that behaves like this,? says Henry Throop at Southwest Research Institute. ?It?s not direct visual evidence of planets, but it?s very direct evidence for large grains, which means these things are sticking together and growing on their way to becoming planetesimals and planets.?
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