For the first time, astronomers witness the dawn of a new solar system
For the first time, astronomers witness the dawn of a new solar system
www.eso.org
For the first time, astronomers witness the dawn of a new solar system
International researchers have, for the first time, pinpointed the moment when planets began to form around a star beyond the Sun. Using the ALMA telescope, in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner, and the James Webb Space Telescope, they have observed the creation of the first specks of planet-forming material — hot minerals just beginning to solidify. This finding marks the first time a planetary system has been identified at such an early stage in its formation and opens a window to the past of our own Solar System.
Am I the only one still bothered by people using "solar system" to refer to other stellar systems?
solar system
noun. Any collection of heavenly bodies including a star or binary star, and any lighter stars, brown dwarfs, planets, and other objects in orbit.
https://www.wordnik.com/words/solar%20system
Yes, I know how it's being used. I just disagree with that usage. Merriam-Webster gives a similar definition and then has the gall to put as definition two "especially the sun and all the planets, moons, and asteroids orbiting it".
But that definition, minus the "especially", used to be the only definition, then the primary definition, and now second definition. It used to be specific to the system orbiting Sol, is my point. Other systems were just called "systems", or if that might've been ambiguous, "stellar systems".
I get that the world has moved on without me, but don't expect me to shut up about it anytime soon.