Astronomers identify youngest exoplanet on record

A team of astronomers has identified a newborn exoplanet called Elias 2-24 b from archival space data, making it the youngest recorded planet to date. At less than a million years old and comparable in mass to Jupiter, the planet lies roughly 450 light-years away and remains surrounded by its formation disc. Researchers confirmed the object using a coronagraph at the W.M. Keck Observatory, building on earlier clues from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array and the Very Large Telescope.

Astronomers have confirmed the discovery of Elias 2-24 b, identified as the youngest known planet at under a million years old. The Jupiter-mass object orbits a star 450 light-years from Earth and sits within a dusty protoplanetary disk, offering a rare look at planet formation. Scientists analyzed archived observations from NASA-funded facilities and combined data from multiple telescopes to verify that the faint object is indeed an orbiting planet.

Astronomers have discovered the youngest exoplanet known to science, named Elias 2-24 b, which is less than a million years old and roughly the mass of Jupiter. Located about 450 light-years from Earth, the newborn planet remains embedded within the disk of gas and dust surrounding its host star. Researchers utilized archival data from multiple facilities, including the W.M. Keck Observatory, to confirm the discovery and provide rare insights into early planetary evolution that challenge existing formation models.

Scientists have identified Elias 2-24 b as the youngest exoplanet ever discovered, at an age of less than one million years. Writing for Live Science, the author details how researchers combined observations from multiple telescopes to directly image the planetary infant still accreting material from its cosmic cocoon. Experts note that this discovery helps fill knowledge gaps about early planet formation and tests existing theoretical models.