Oldest Known Planet Identified

Running Time: 15 seconds

An animation showing the theory of a gas collapse model of planet formation. A protoplanetary disk of gas and dust forms around a young star. Gravitational disk instabilities form a clump of gas that becomes a self-gravitating planet. Dust grains coagulate and sediment to the center of the protoplanet, forming a core. The planet sweeps out a wide gap as it continues to feed on gas in the disk.

Video Credit: NASA, L. Barranger, and A. Feild (STScI)