A Baby Planet Is Still Growing—and It Holds a Record
exoplanet
A planet outside our solar system.
coronagraph
A tool that blocks a star’s bright light.
spectroscopy
A way to study light and learn about an object.
What happened
Astronomers have confirmed that Elias 2-24 b is less than one million years old. It is the youngest known exoplanet. An exoplanet is a planet outside our solar system. The world orbits the young star Elias 2-24, about 450 light-years from Earth. Its mass is about the same as Jupiter’s. It is also still gathering gas and dust from the disk around its star.
A planet caught growing
Young stars can have a rotating disk of gas, dust, ice, and rock. Planets grow from this leftover material. Elias 2-24’s disk has a large gap. A forming planet may carve such a gap as it gathers material. The team found Elias 2-24 b inside that gap. That makes the object especially useful. Scientists can study a planet while it is still building itself.
A decade-long confirmation
The story started with older observations. ALMA first showed the gap about a decade ago. The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope then found a faint point of light there. Scientists debated whether it was a planet, an imaging defect, or a background star.
A team led by Andrea Bernardi searched the W. M. Keck Observatory archive. They reanalyzed data from 2018 and 2020. The point moved in a way that matched an orbiting planet. Keck’s coronagraph blocked the bright star’s light. That helped the team see the much fainter planet. Observations from Keck, ALMA, and the VLT together confirmed the result.
Why it matters
The previous youngest-planet record belonged to worlds more than five million years old. Current models suggest a Jupiter-mass planet needs about five million years to form at Jupiter’s distance from the Sun. Elias 2-24 b is less than one million years old. It lies about 55 times farther from its star than Earth is from the Sun.
This does not mean the models are useless. It means they may be missing important steps. The discovery gives scientists a rare test of planet formation while it happens.
What remains uncertain
The planet’s age, mass, and growth stage come from observations and models. Scientists still need better measurements of its exact mass, temperature, atmosphere, and rate of growth. Young planets are hard to see. Dust can hide them, and their stars are much brighter.
What comes next
The team hopes to obtain spectroscopy and other measurements. These could reveal more about the planet’s atmosphere, temperature, mass, and ongoing growth. NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has a more powerful coronagraph. It may make similar discoveries easier.
Elias 2-24 b is not a finished world. It is a rare look at a giant planet during construction. More such objects could help explain how planetary systems, including our own, take shape.
Sources: NASA Science, W. M. Keck Observatory, Space.com
The Youngest Known Planet Is Still Growing
📰 Full story: A Baby Planet Is Still Growing—and It Holds a Record
Astronomers found a giant planet less than one million years old.
Elias 2-24 b
The name of the planet in this story.
coronagraph
A tool that blocks bright starlight.
ALMA
A telescope facility in Chile.
💡 The gist
- Elias 2-24 b is the youngest confirmed exoplanet.
- It is less than one million years old.
- It is still collecting gas and dust around its star.
What did scientists find?
Astronomers study planets outside our solar system. These planets are called exoplanets. They confirmed one around the young star Elias 2-24. Its name is Elias 2-24 b. The star is about 450 light-years from Earth. The planet has about Jupiter’s mass.
The planet is still growing. It sits inside a disk of gas and dust. This disk circles its young star. A wide gap appears in the disk. The planet may have made that gap. It gathered material while moving around the star.
How did they know?
Scientists first saw the gap about ten years ago. ALMA found the gap in the star’s disk. The Very Large Telescope saw a faint dot there. But the dot might have been an image problem. It might also have been a distant background star.
Andrea Bernardi led a team that checked old Keck records. The team studied observations from 2018 and 2020. The faint dot moved like an orbiting planet. Keck used a coronagraph to block the star’s glare. That made the dim planet easier to see. ALMA, Keck, and the Very Large Telescope agreed. Together, they confirmed the planet.
Why is this important?
The former record-holders were more than five million years old. Scientists thought giant planets needed about five million years to form. This planet is less than one million years old. So planets may grow faster than current models predict. The models may be missing an important process.
What will scientists study next?
The exact mass, temperature, and atmosphere remain uncertain. Researchers want more observations. NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope may help. Its coronagraph is more powerful. It could find more planets hidden near bright stars.
Sources: NASA Science, W. M. Keck Observatory, Space.com
A Baby Planet Is Growing in Space
📰 Full story: A Baby Planet Is Still Growing—and It Holds a Record
Scientists found a very young planet still gathering space dust.
Elias 2-24 b
The name of the very young planet.
coronagraph
A tool that hides bright starlight.
What is the news?
Elias 2-24 b is a planet. It is less than one million years old. That makes it the youngest known planet. It is still growing around its young star.
The planet gathers gas and dust. These materials are like building pieces. They help the planet become bigger. A gap surrounds the planet’s star. The growing planet may have made that gap.
Scientists checked old telescope records. They saw a tiny spot move. The spot moved like a planet. A coronagraph hid the star’s bright light. Then the faint planet became easier to see.
Elias 2-24 b is about as massive as Jupiter. But it is not finished yet. Scientists will keep watching it. They want to learn how planets grow.
Sources: NASA Science, W. M. Keck Observatory, Space.com