A baby planet has been discovered nestled in a ring of dust and gas around its young star, offering a fascinating glimpse into how planets form. This new celestial body, known as WISPIT 2b, is a gas giant that’s five times the mass of Jupiter and only about five million years old. It’s located around 437 light-years away from Earth.
Astronomers using powerful telescopes in Chile and Arizona captured images showing WISPIT 2b sitting within a distinct gap in a protoplanetary disk—the ring-like structure that surrounds young stars. This finding supports a long-held belief about how gas giants evolve. According to NASA, gaps in these disks can indicate that a planet is gathering mass and clearing out space around it.
The growth of WISPIT 2b was first hinted at by the Very Large Telescope in Chile, which revealed visible bands of dust and a noticeable gap that pointed to planet formation. More recent observations from the Magellan Telescope’s advanced imaging system have detected the glow of hydrogen gas, confirming that material is feeding into WISPIT 2b.
Experts in astrophysics say that studying young planets like WISPIT 2b can help us understand not just how gas giants evolve but also how our own Earth-like planets may have formed. According to recent studies, pressures and temperatures during such formative stages play a critical role in shaping the planets.
In fact, gaps created by forming planets are essential to the process. They help to clear and organize material, allowing a planet to grow more efficiently. Notably, astronomers noticed a second source of light within another ring, suggesting that we might be witnessing the birth of a sibling planet.
This exciting discovery builds on a wealth of ongoing research about planetary formation. Observations of WISPIT 2b were published recently in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, showcasing how cutting-edge technology is expanding our understanding of the universe.
For more on the latest in planetary science, you can explore findings from NASA on the formation of exoplanets here.
