The astronomers observed hot minerals just beginning to solidify – the first specks of planet-forming material, the astronomers said. A gaseous disk surrounding the young star is the first stages of the assembly process to form a new planetary system, according to the paper.

It's the earliest stage of planet formation ever seen by scientists. The new planetary system is taking shape around HOPS-315, a baby star which is located 1,300 light years from Earth in the Orion Nebula. Experts say that the discovery could help better understand the beginnings of our own Solar System.

While astronomers have previously seen young discs that contain newborn, massive, Jupiter-like planets, McClure says, “we’ve always known that the first solid parts of planets, or planetesimals, must form further back in time, at earlier stages.”