Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
How do planets start? Host Simon Steel (SETI Institute) speaks with Melissa McClure (Leiden University), lead author of a new study that caught the earliest spark of planet formation. Using JWST and ALMA, the team detected silicon monoxide (SiO)—both gaseous and likely crystalline—and pinpointed where hot, rock-forming minerals are condensing inside the protoplanetary disk of HOPS-315, ~1300 light-years away in Orion. They also map the action to a belt-like region similar to our Solar System’s asteroid belt. What does SiO reveal about shocks, heat, and the first solids that seed planets? Join us to unpack the chemistry, the physics, and the cosmic “baby book” of a solar system in the making.
ESO press release: eso.org/public/unitedkingdom/news/eso2512
Nature paper: nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09163-z
#JWST #ALMA #PlanetFormation #SiliconMonoxide #SiO #ProtoplanetaryDisk #Exoplanets #Astronomy #Astrobiology #SpaceScience #HOPS315 #ESO #SETILive #StarFormation #CosmicOrigins
If you like science, support the SETI Institute! We're a non-profit research institution whose focus is understanding the nature and origins of life in the universe. Donate here: seti.org/donate
Learn more about the SETI Institute and stay up-to-date on awesome science:
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel at youtube.com/c/SETIInstitute
- Watch our streams over on Twitch at twitch.tv/setiinstitute
- Listen to our podcast, Big Picture Science [http://www.bigpicturescience.org](http://www.bigpicturescience.org/)/
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How do planets start? Host Simon Steel (SETI Institute) speaks with Melissa McClure (Leiden University), lead author of a new study that caught the earliest spark of planet formation. Using JWST and ALMA, the team detected silicon monoxide (SiO)—both gaseous and likely crystalline—and pinpointed where hot, rock-forming minerals are condensing inside the protoplanetary disk of HOPS-315, ~1300 light-years away in Orion. They also map the action to a belt-like region similar to our Solar System’s asteroid belt. What does SiO reveal about shocks, heat, and the first solids that seed planets? Join us to unpack the chemistry, the physics, and the cosmic “baby book” of a solar system in the making.
ESO press release: eso.org/public/unitedkingdom/news/eso2512
Nature paper: nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09163-z
#JWST #ALMA #PlanetFormation #SiliconMonoxide #SiO #ProtoplanetaryDisk #Exoplanets #Astronomy #Astrobiology #SpaceScience #HOPS315 #ESO #SETILive #StarFormation #CosmicOrigins
If you like science, support the SETI Institute! We're a non-profit research institution whose focus is understanding the nature and origins of life in the universe. Donate here: seti.org/donate
Learn more about the SETI Institute and stay up-to-date on awesome science:
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel at youtube.com/c/SETIInstitute
- Watch our streams over on Twitch at twitch.tv/setiinstitute
- Listen to our podcast, Big Picture Science [http://www.bigpicturescience.org](http://www.bigpicturescience.org/)/
- Subscribe to our newsletter seti.org/signup
- Buy merchandise from Chop Shop chopshopstore.com/collections/seti-institute/SETI
Don't forget to like and subscribe! Ring the bell for notifications of when we go live.
