Stage 1: Birth in a Protoplanetary Disk Origin: Planets start their life in massive clouds made up of gas and dust in space . These clouds are very cold and thick . Star Formation: Gravity pulls parts of these clouds together , forming young stars . Around these stars , leftover material spins around , creating a disk called a protoplanetary disk . Dust to Planetesimals : Small dust particles stick together when they collide . They grow into pebbles , then rocks , and finally into large objects called planetesimals , which are about a kilometer in ...