Astronomers have found a 'baby' planet and named it Elias 2-24 b. The Jupiter-size world is less than 1 million years old

Astronomers have found a planet that is less than 1 million years old. Named Elias 2-24 b, it is the youngest known planet discovered so far. The planet is still surrounded by the gas and dust left over from its formation. That gives scientists a rare opportunity to observe a young world while it is still taking shape. Scroll down to find more details.

This Baby Planet Is About The Size Of Jupiter

Elias 2-24 b has about the same mass as Jupiter and is located roughly 450 light-years from Earth. It orbits a young star known as Elias 2-24. The planet sits inside a large disk of gas and dust surrounding its star. Planets are thought to form from this material as dust, rock and other particles gradually come together. Elias 2-24 b is far younger than the previous record holders. Those planets were more than 5 million years old.

Also Read: Charlie Puth sells family California home where he married Brooke Sansone for $18.5 million. Makes a whopping profit of $14.33 million


Lucas Cieza, a professor at the Instituto de Estudios Astrofísicos in Chile and a co-author of the study, said the discovery points to gaps in scientists’ understanding of how giant planets form. “Elias 2-24 b shows us that even our best planet-formation models are still missing some important processes,” Cieza said.

Scientists Found It In Old Telescope Data

The planet was not discovered in a brand-new observation. Researchers found it by going back through older telescope data. About a decade ago, observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array showed a gap in the dusty disk around Elias 2-24. Later observations from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope picked up a faint point of light inside that gap. Researchers then searched data from the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. They found the same object in observations from 2018 and 2020 and tracked how it moved over time.

Also Read: Alabama dumped 16,000,000 used oyster shells from restaurants into the sea. It has now developed cleaner water, marine life, reefs, and restored coastal environment

That movement helped confirm that the object was a planet rather than a background star or an imaging error. Andrea Bernardi, the lead researcher, said the team expected to find planets inside gaps in these disks because planets can clear material as they form. “The planets should be found within the gaps, since they are carving them,” Bernardi said. “And that’s exactly where we found Elias 2-24 b.”

The Planet Is Still Growing

Elias 2-24 b is not a fully settled planetary system. Scientists believe material from the surrounding disk is still falling onto the young planet. It is also located much farther from its star than Earth is from the Sun. Elias 2-24 b orbits at a distance about 55 times the Earth-Sun distance. That is one reason its formation is difficult to explain using current models. Scientists expect that studying such a young planet could help explain how giant worlds form and grow.

Also Read: Ohio-based company transforms old wind turbine blades into beautiful, sustainable benches, tables and other public-space furniture

More Young Planets Could Be Found

The discovery also shows how useful older telescope data can be. In this case, observations collected years ago helped researchers confirm a planet that was difficult to see because of the bright light from its young star. NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which launched on August 30, carries a more powerful coronagraph designed to block starlight and help scientists detect faint objects nearby. Researchers expect instruments like Roman to make it easier to find other young planets.

Also Read: Australian researchers turned discarded mine pipes into artificial dens for an endangered marsupial; cameras caught northern quolls using them

Most of the thousands of known exoplanets are much older and orbit relatively close to their stars. Elias 2-24 b is different because scientists are seeing it at a very early stage. For now, the young planet offers a rare look at a planetary system still under construction. Studying worlds like this could help scientists understand how planets formed around young stars and how our own Solar System may have looked billions of years ago.