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yesterday

Astronomers Directly Image Newborn Planet in Multi-Ringed Disk in First Clear Case

Multi-wavelength images reveal an actively accreting gas giant embedded in a multi-ringed disk.

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
The European Southern Observatory shared this image of the week, which depicts a newborn planet eating its way through its dusty cradle as it orbits its host star. This image, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, is the first clear detection of a baby planet in a disc with multiple rings.
Image
Image

Overview

  • The planet, WISPIT 2b, orbits a young sun-like star about 430 light years away, sits in a disk gap at roughly 56 astronomical units, and is estimated to be about 5 million years old.
  • ESO’s Very Large Telescope captured the object in near-infrared light, while a University of Arizona instrument detected hydrogen-alpha emission in visible light that signals ongoing gas accretion.
  • Researchers report the first unambiguous planet detection within a multi-ringed protoplanetary disk, with the surrounding disk extending to about 380 astronomical units and the source confirmed as co-moving with the star.
  • The finding arose from a five-year snapshot survey led by teams at Leiden University, the University of Galway, and the University of Arizona, with results published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
  • Outlets differ on the planet’s mass, describing it as Jupiter-like or several times more massive, and teams plan follow-up spectroscopy and monitoring, with Arizona researchers also noting a second candidate inside the disk’s inner cavity.