Circumstellar disc

Imagine that you have a big pancake in space, and in the center of the pancake you have a star, like our Sun. The pancake is actually made up of gas, dust, and small particles. This is called a circumstellar disc (circum means "around," and stellar means "related to a star").

The circumstellar disc is like the nursery for baby planets. It's a place where gravity can pull these small particles together to form bigger and bigger chunks, eventually creating new planets!

Picture pouring a bunch of sand into a plate; if you shake it, the sand will spread out and form a thin layer along the bottom. But if you keep shaking, some of the sand will start to clump together, forming small mounds. These mounds will then stick together to form even larger mounds, until eventually you might have a sandcastle.

That's basically what happens with the circumstellar disc—gravity starts to pull like particles together, until they form clumps or "seeds." These seeds can continue to grow as more and more particles stick to them, eventually forming the core of a new planet.

So, to sum up: A circumstellar disc is a big pancake of gas, dust, and particles that surrounds a star, and is where new planets are born. Think of it like a cosmic nursery!