Astronomers have discovered the earliest seeds of rocky planets forming in the gas around a baby sun-like star, providing a precious peek into the dawn of our solar system.

Astronomers today said they had observed the moment when planets start forming around a distant star for the first time, revealing a process that sheds light on the birth of our own solar system. The new planetary system is forming around the baby star HOPS-315 – which resembles our own Sun in its youth – 1300 light years from Earth in the Orion Nebula.