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Astronomers have discovered the raw ingredients of planets orbiting two infant stars, offering a glimpse into how new worlds take shape. These building blocks, called “pebbles,” are tiny solid chunks about the size of a coin. They gather in wide rings of dust and gas known as protoplanetary discs. Over millions of years, these pebbles can clump together and grow into full-sized planets.
Scientists believe this slow but steady process is the same one that formed our solar system about 4.5 billion years ago. First came massive gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn. Then icy planets like Uranus and Neptune appeared. Finally, rocky worlds such as Earth and Mars took shape.
A Telescope That Sees What Others Miss
The discovery was made using the UK’s e-MERLIN radio telescope network. Unlike many telescopes that look in optical or infrared light, e-MERLIN detects radio waves. This makes it perfect for finding centimetre-sized pebbles that don’t shine but give off just enough radio energy to be seen—if your equipment is sharp enough.
e‑MERLIN is an interferometer array of seven radio telescopes spanning 217 km (135 miles) across the UK, connected by a superfast optical fibre network to its headquarters at Jodrell Bank. (CREDIT: e‑MERLIN)
This array of seven telescopes stretches 217 kilometers across the UK. It is linked by high-speed fiber optics to its home base at Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire. Right now, it’s the only system with the resolution and sensitivity needed to study planet-building discs at this stage.
New images of discs around DG Tau and HL Tau reveal clear signs of planet-building pebbles. These pebbles had already gathered far from the central stars. These pebbles were found at distances similar to Neptune’s orbit. This means the basic ingredients to build planets are already in place, even in these distant regions.
“These observations show that discs like DG Tau and HL Tau already contain large reservoirs of planet-building pebbles out to at least Neptune-like orbits,” said Dr. Katie Hesterly of the SKA Observatory. “This is potentially enough to build planetary systems larger than our own solar system.”
Finding the Missing Stage in Planet Formation
Before this, astronomers had two clear views of planetary evolution. The early stage involves dust grains like fine sand swirling around young stars, and the final stage features full planets orbiting in established systems. But the middle phase—when dust starts clumping into larger particles that can grow into planets—has remained mostly hidden.
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Dr. Anita Richards, of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester, explains why. “Decades ago, young stars were found to be surrounded by orbiting discs of gas and tiny grains like dust or sand,” she said. “Enough grains to make Jupiter could be spread over roughly the same area as the entire orbit of Jupiter. This made it easy to detect with optical and infra-red telescopes, or the ALMA submillimeter radio interferometer.”
But as the grains clump together to make planets, the surface area of a given mass gets smaller. That makes it harder to see using regular telescopes. This is where radio telescopes like e-MERLIN become useful. Pebbles emit radiation best at wavelengths close to their size, and centimetre-sized particles emit around 4-centimeter waves.
Pebbles as Planetary Seeds
The new research is part of a wider effort called the PEBBLeS project—short for Planet Earth Building-Blocks – a Legacy eMERLIN Survey. This project is led by Professor Jane Greaves of Cardiff University. It focuses on imaging rocky belts around young stars.
An e-MERLIN map showing the tilted disc structure around the young star DG Tauri where pebble-sized clumps are beginning to form. (CREDIT: Hesterly, Drabek-Maunder, Greaves, Richards, et al.)
The goal is to figure out how common planets might be in the universe and where they tend to form in the swirling discs around new stars. It’s a way of predicting how many planetary systems like ours might exist—or whether ours is a rare exception. “Through these observations, we’re now able to investigate where solid material gathers in these discs, providing insight into one of the earliest stages of planet formation,” said Professor Greaves.
The discovery of pebbles around HL Tau and DG Tau is especially important. It shows that large amounts of planet-building material exist even in the outer regions of these systems. This could lead to planetary systems that stretch wider than our own, possibly with different kinds of planets than those we’re familiar with.
A Glimpse of the Future with the SKA
The team’s findings were shared at the Royal Astronomical Society’s National Astronomy Meeting 2025 in Durham, highlighting how far the field has come. Even more exciting, these results are just a preview of what’s to come.
The HL Tau disc captured by e-MERLIN is shown overlaid on an ALMA image, revealing both the compact emission from the central region of the disc and the larger scale dust rings. (CREDIT: Greaves, Hesterly, Richards, and et al./ALMA partnership, et al.)
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope is now under construction in South Africa and Australia. It promises to take this research to a whole new level. With much greater sensitivity and a wider observing range, SKA will let scientists study hundreds of planetary systems across the galaxy.
“e-MERLIN is showing what’s possible, and SKA telescope will take it further,” said Dr. Hesterly. “When science verification with the SKA-Mid telescope begins in 2031, we’ll be ready to study hundreds of planetary systems to help understand how planets are formed.”
With new tools and clearer images, scientists are closer than ever to understanding how common systems like ours really are. They are also exploring whether life-friendly planets could be forming right now in distant corners of the galaxy.
The birth of planets is a slow and quiet process, but thanks to radio telescopes and dedicated research, it’s becoming less of a mystery.
Note: The article above provided above by The Brighter Side of News.
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