Unveiling the Cosmic Marvel: Rogue Planet Expands at an Astonishing 6 Billion Tonnes Per Second!

An international team of astronomers, using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, has made an exciting discovery about a rogue planet named Cha 1107−7626. This planet is growing at an astonishing rate of 6 billion tonnes per second—an unprecedented record.

Rogue planets, also known as free-floating planets, drift through space without being tied to a star. They were first identified in 2000, and estimates suggest there could be trillions of them in our Milky Way. In fact, there might be 20 times more rogue planets than stars.

Cha 1107−7626 is intriguing because it weighs five to ten times what Jupiter does. It lacks the necessary mass to become a brown dwarf, which typically ranges from 13 to 80 times Jupiter’s mass.

In April and August of 2025, astronomers noticed that Cha 1107−7626 brightened significantly, showing an increase in its mass accumulation rate. This burst was a whopping 6-8 times higher than previous measurements in planetary-mass objects.

The nature of these bursts is still a mystery. “The origin of rogue planets remains an open question,” says Professor Aleks Scholz from the University of St Andrews. Are they formed like stars or ejected from their original systems?

These bursts align with a phenomenon known as EXor outbursts, observed in young stars. A related study notes that low-mass stars often grow during brief bursts of enhanced accretion. They feature brightening lasting for weeks to months, a pattern that helps researchers understand how stars and planets form.

Cha 1107−7626 is unique in its behavior, showing characteristics more typically associated with young stars, suggesting a connection between star and planet formation. “This discovery blurs the line between stars and planets,” says Dr. Belinda Damian, another researcher on the team.

Recent surveys indicate a growing interest in rogue planets on social media, with discussions often focusing on their mysterious origins and future discoveries. Their elusive nature captivates both scientists and the public, making rogue planets a hot topic in astronomy.

The findings are published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

For more insights into rogue planets, you can check out this NASA article.

Source link