Astronomers have confirmed a planet less than one million years old, making Elias 2-24 b the youngest known world discovered so far. The Jupiter-mass planet is still forming inside the disk of gas and dust surrounding its young host star about 450 light-years from Earth.
The result was reported by a team led by Andrea Bernardi of Universidad Diego Portales and highlighted by NASA after the researchers combined archival observations from several major telescopes, including the W. M. Keck Observatory.
A planet found inside a gap in a dusty disk
Young stars are surrounded by disks of leftover material from which planets form. Astronomers had already noticed a prominent gap in the disk around Elias 2-24, but confirming that a planet was responsible proved difficult because very young systems are obscured by dust.
Using a coronagraph to suppress the glare of the host star, the researchers identified a faint object moving with the system and located where planet-formation theory suggested it should be. The planet sits roughly 55 times farther from its star than Earth is from the Sun.
The discovery challenges formation models
Current models have struggled to explain how a Jupiter-size planet can form so quickly, especially at such a large orbital distance. Previous record-holders for the youngest confirmed planets were more than five million years old.
NASA says systems like Elias 2-24 offer astronomers a rare look at planet formation while it is still happening. Future observations from the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, with its advanced coronagraph, could make it easier to detect more planets embedded in young disks and test whether current formation models are missing important processes.
