Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Swipe for next article

Independent Bulletin homepage

Download our
Social Partner

We are 8 logo (opens in a new tab)

Jupiter-like planet discovered forming in deep space

This is an image of a new-born planet, likely a gas giant similar to Jupiter in our own solar system (comparison image given in upper right corner) but about 5 times bigger — This is an image of a new-born planet, likely a gas giant similar to Jupiter in our own solar system (comparison image given in upper right corner) but about 5 times bigger (C. Ginski/R. van Capelleveen et al)

An international team of astronomers, including researchers from the University of Galway, has announced the "remarkable discovery" of a new planet named WISPIT 2b.
WISPIT 2b is estimated to be just five million years old, a gas giant comparable in size to Jupiter, and is forming around a young star similar to our Sun.
The planet was detected using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile and is located approximately 430 light years away in the constellation Aquila.
This discovery marks only the second time a confirmed planet has been detected at such an early evolutionary stage around a young star resembling our Sun.
The comprehensive study on WISPIT 2b, co-led by Leiden University, the University of Galway, and the University of Arizona, has been published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Astronomers make ‘completely unexpected’ new planet discovery — In full