Birth of an extremely rare new planet observed

Astronomers have made a discovery that could help us better understand how gas giants like Jupiter form in our own Solar system. Observations have witnessed the birth of a new planet, which has been extremely rare until now.

Of course, it is known that new planets are forming in different parts of the universe, but observing them is extremely rare. In fact, with the new observation, only three planetary births have been discovered so far. The latest discovery was made by analyzing data from the European Southern Observatory’s Sphere instrument. As a result of observations supported by data, a new protoplanet was discovered near Earth (depending on where you look).

Still in its infancy

The new planet is a gas giant orbiting the star HD 169142, which astronomers have been observing for several years, and is roughly three times the mass of Jupiter. Dubbed HD 169142b, the protoplanet orbits 37 astronomical units—37 times the distance between Earth and the sun—from its star. It takes about 166 years for the gas giant to make one complete orbit around its star. The distance of the HD 169142 system from us is 371 light years. Although on a human scale this may seem far away, we are in the same neighborhood as this system on a cosmos scale.

The star HD 169142 is surrounded by a hot, dense disk of gas and dust. This scene is essentially similar to the early Solar system, where Earth, Mars and others were not formed yet. Over time, this disk of gas and dust becomes a planet with the force of gravity. The newly discovered planet may also have a satellite in its later stages. In the meantime, let’s also mention that the other two observed protoplanets are PDS 70b and PDS 70c, which were discovered about 369 light-years from Earth in 2018.

The co-author of the study, Iain Hammond, states that the star HD 169142 was observed between 2015 and 2019, and it is theorized that a new planet began to form in the system in 2019, with the images obtained. The new findings confirm this hypothesis, with reanalysis of previous data as well as the inclusion of new higher quality observations. Valentin Christiaens, who took part in the study, underlines that we are looking at a very young stage of the planet. Future observations using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope are thought to provide further clues to such early planet formation.