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Astronomers Directly Image Baby Gas Giant WISPIT 2b Inside Multi-Ring Disk

Dual infrared plus H-alpha detections confirm a still-accreting gas giant embedded in a disk gap around a Sun-like star.

A dusty disk is seen around a young star. In the middle is a small dot of light (indicated by a white circle) that astronomers say is a newly-discovered newborn planet, likely a gas giant similar to Jupiter, but about 5 times more massive. These observations were taken with the ESO Very Large Telescope in near-infrared light
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Overview

  • The peer-reviewed discovery appears in The Astrophysical Journal Letters from a Leiden–Galway–Arizona collaboration following the WISPIT survey.
  • ESO’s Very Large Telescope captured the protoplanet in near-infrared within a disk gap, while MagAO-X and the Large Binocular Telescope detected H-alpha emission tracing active gas accretion.
  • WISPIT 2b is roughly 5 million years old, about five Jupiter masses, and orbits at approximately 56 AU around a Sun-like star located ~430 light years away.
  • The host system’s 380-AU multi-ring disk makes this the first clear planet found inside such rings, establishing a benchmark for studying planet–disk interactions.
  • Researchers also report an inner candidate, CC1, near 15 AU at an estimated nine Jupiter masses, with additional observations underway to confirm its nature.