Overview

• A peer-reviewed ApJ Letters study details Cha 1107-7626, a 5–10 Jupiter-mass object about 620 light-years away, accreting faster than any planetary-mass body previously measured.
• ESO’s VLT/X-shooter monitoring from April to August 2025 recorded an approximately eightfold uptick in accretion by August to roughly six billion metric tons per second.
• Comparisons of light before and during the event show magnetically channeled infall and the emergence of water vapor in the surrounding disk only during the burst.
• The findings draw on VLT and JWST observations plus archival VLT/SINFONI data, with the team reporting the burst was still ongoing in the latest measurements.
• Archival signs of a 2016 high-accretion phase suggest recurring bursts, and researchers plan continued tracking and broader searches with ELT, Rubin and Roman.