Solar system has candy floss heart

When the earliest rocks were formed in the solar system they resembled candy floss more than the building material of planets, research has shown.

Scientists made the discovery after analysis of a meteorite fragment from the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars.

The "carbonaceous chondrite" fragment was originally formed in the early solar system when microscopic dust motes gathered around larger, one-millimetre grain particles.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, show that the first solid material in the solar system was fragile and highly porous - like candy floss.

Scientists believe that the Sun and its planets formed from a cloud of dust and gas in which clumps gradually appeared due to the force of gravity.

Dr Phil Bland, from Imperial College London, said: "Our study makes us even more convinced than before that the early carbonaceous chondrite rocks were shaped by the turbulent nebula through which they travelled billions of years ago."