Finally evidence of the same planet and moon forming processes in other planetary systems that were hypothesized to have occurred 4-5 billion years ago in the solar system.
A Nasa space telescope has found evidence of a high-speed collision between two burgeoning planets orbiting a young star.
Astronomers say the cosmic smash-up is similar to the one that formed our Moon some four billion years ago, when a Mars-sized object crashed into Earth.
In this case, two rocky bodies are thought to have slammed into one another in the last few thousand years.
"This is a really rare and short-lived event, critical in the formation of Earth-like planets and moons. We're lucky to have witnessed one not long after it happened."
Traces of planet collision found