Astronomers studying the Beta Pictoris star system, located relatively close to Earth at 63 light-years away, have uncovered evidence suggesting a recent collision between large asteroids.

This system, much younger than our own at about 20 million years old, is still in the process of planetary formation.

Observations conducted with the retired Spitzer Space Telescope in 2004 and 2005 revealed multiple dust populations within Beta Pictoris.

Years later, using the James Webb Space Telescope in 2023, researchers noticed significant changes: two prominent dust clouds observed by Spitzer had vanished, CNN reported.

This discovery, presented at the 244th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, implies that two giant asteroids likely collided shortly before the Spitzer observations.

Written by B.C. Begley