A star surrounded by an icy disk has been discovered not far from the Sun.

The protoplanetary disk is where the story of nearly every star system likely begins: a cloud of material surrounding a nascent sun, rotating in the plane of its equator. Gradually, gravity takes its toll—clumps form, and eventually new worlds emerge.

The “parent” itself is not yet a full-fledged star; it is a protostar: nuclear fusion reactions have not yet commenced in its core. It is collapsing under the influence of its own gravity and will continue to do so until the compression is strong enough to initiate helium synthesis from hydrogen.

Observing the process of new solar systems being born is fascinating, if only to understand how our own cosmic family came into existence and what determines the fate of future planets. Recently, scientists managed to observe a particularly interesting example, located relatively close to us—424 light-years away—in the OB association of Scorpius-Centaurus.

There lies the star PDS 453, which is approximately twice the size and mass of the Sun. It is considered an intermediate between a similar protostar, T Tauri, and the so-called Herbig stars, which are also still forming but are “heavier”—up to eight times the mass of the Sun.

Estimates suggest that this star is 5-10 million years old, which is an infant age for such a relatively modest star: larger stars can completely “burn out” and explode as supernovae in that time, but a star like PDS 453 “burns” hydrogen for about two to three billion years. Let’s remember, our Sun is already 4.6 billion years old and is expected to “live” for about the same amount of time.

Back in 2006, it was discovered that PDS 453 has a protoplanetary disk. This time, astronomers from the University of Grenoble Alpes, along with colleagues from other countries, examined it in detail using the Very Large Telescope at the European Southern Observatory in Chile. The new images of the forming system were presented in their article, available on the preprint server arXiv.org.

As the scientists explained, PDS 453 is observed at such an angle that a double structure—two “reflective nebulae”—can be traced around it. In reality, this is one large protoplanetary disk. Interestingly, it extends to a distance of 160 astronomical units, meaning its edge is 160 times farther from the star than the Earth is from the Sun. For comparison, Pluto never gets farther than 49 astronomical units.

By analyzing the spectrum of light reflected from the disk, astronomers confidently determine that it contains a significant amount of water ice: at the far edges, it may account for up to half of the total material. Closer to the star, of course, there should be less, and starting from distances of about 3.7 astronomical units, there should be no ice at all: it’s too hot there.

Additionally, the presence of graphite, silicates, and so-called amorphous carbon—lacking a crystalline structure—has been identified in this protoplanetary disk. It is worth noting that carbon has an unprecedented ability to form a wide variety of complex compounds, which is why known life is carbon-based.

The total mass of material around this protoplanetary disk is estimated to be around six Earth masses. This means there is enough material for six worlds like ours. They will form gradually—over tens or roughly a hundred million years.