This animation explores the stages of star and planet formation. Within a large, dense cloud, thousands of protostars collapse under gravity. The falling material forms a disk around the protostar, with jets emitted perpendicular to the disk. Planets condense and accumulate within the disk, creating a new solar system. Infrared observations from the Webb Space Telescope will peer into these dark clouds and dusty disks to examine this formation process with unprecedented clarity.

Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, D.Player (STScI), F. Summers (STScI), J. DePasquale (STScI)

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