Astronomers have made an exciting discovery: a small planet called WISPIT 2b is actively gathering materials around its young star, located about 430 light-years from Earth. This planet is about the size of Jupiter and still only 5 million years old—quite young compared to our solar system, which is around 4.6 billion years old.
WISPIT 2b is unique because it’s the first confirmed planet in a protoplanetary disk with multiple gaps, somewhat resembling grooves on a vinyl record. This disk of gas and dust surrounds its star, WISPIT 2, and the planet is forming by pulling in material from this disk, much like how Pac-Man eats dots in a game.
Using the Very Large Telescope in the Atacama Desert, scientists captured stunning infrared images of WISPIT 2b sitting within the disk’s gap. This is just the second known young planet orbiting a star similar to our sun. The size of the surrounding disk is impressive—it’s about 380 times the distance from the Earth to the sun, providing a perfect natural lab to study how planets like WISPIT 2b develop.
Richelle van Capelleveen, a researcher from Leiden University, expressed her excitement: “We were incredibly lucky to discover this planet. WISPIT 2 is in a group of young stars that hasn’t been studied much. It will likely serve as a benchmark for future research.”
To explore the characteristics of gas giants, the research team observed many young stars. In this case, they were surprised to find a vibrant multi-ringed dust disk. Christian Ginski from the University of Galway explained, “It’s challenging to capture images of forming planets, but this discovery gives us a chance to understand the diverse systems we see in the universe today, including our solar system.” In fact, a recent survey noted that over 4,000 exoplanets have been discovered, highlighting the incredible variety and complexity of planetary systems.
The team also managed to take optical images of WISPIT 2b, confirming that it is still in the process of collecting matter. This means we could learn a lot about how planets form and evolve. Ginski added that this discovery is just the beginning, saying, “I think many researchers will focus on this system in the coming years.”
The research conclusions were published in two papers in *The Astrophysical Journal Letters*. Jake Byrne, a graduate student at the University of Galway, remarked on the significance of this find, saying, “I could hardly believe the image when I saw it—it’s a game changer and is bound to spark discussions within the research community.”
This exciting discovery not only sheds light on the mechanisms of planet formation but also gives researchers new avenues to explore the history and future of our solar system and beyond.
