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NASA’s Webb finds signs of Mars-sized worlds smashing together

That ancient impact dramatically altered Earth. Now, astronomers are using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to investigate young star systems that appear to be experiencing similarly violent events. By studying these systems, researchers can estimate how energetic the collisions were and learn more about how rocky planets form and evolve.

The material surrounding a star changes significantly over time. Young stars begin with a juvenile, gas-rich protoplanetary disk where forming planets can reside. As the system matures, that environment develops into a gas-poor debris disk.

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