Astronomers have made a rare and unexpected discovery: a newborn planet caught in the act of forming around a young star that resembles our own sun.
The planet, named WISPIT 2b, is only about five million years old—an infant by cosmic standards—and is likely a giant planet similar in size to Jupiter but about five times more massive.
The discovery, published in Astrophysical Journal Letters, was made by an international team co-led by researchers at Leiden University in the Netherlands, the University of Galway in Ireland, and the University of Arizona in the United States.
Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, one of the world’s most advanced observatories, the astronomers were initially scanning many young stars with short, snapshot-style observations.
Their goal was to see if small dots of light might betray the presence of hidden planets.
When the team pointed the telescope at WISPIT 2, a young star, they were surprised to see a stunning multi-ringed disk of dust around it.
Such disks are known as the birthplaces of planets, with their rings and gaps often linked to the formation of new worlds. Intrigued, the researchers quickly requested more observing time to search for signs of a planet inside the disk. Their follow-up observations confirmed the presence of WISPIT 2b, clearly visible as a glowing point of light nestled within one of the disk’s gaps.
This is only the second time astronomers have directly observed a planet at such an early stage of its development around a young sun-like star.
It is also the first confirmed detection of a planet within a multi-ringed disk, making WISPIT 2b an ideal laboratory to study how planets interact with their dusty cradles and how they evolve.
The planet was captured in near-infrared light, which revealed its faint glow as it continues to radiate heat from its formation. Astronomers at the University of Arizona were also able to detect the planet in visible light using a specialized instrument, providing evidence that WISPIT 2b is still actively growing by pulling in gas from its surroundings.
The dusty disk around the star stretches to a radius of about 380 astronomical units—380 times the distance between Earth and the sun—making it a huge and spectacular nursery for planet formation. The clarity of the images has thrilled astronomers, who see this system as a benchmark for testing current theories about how planets are born.
The project was led by Ph.D. student Richelle van Capelleveen from Leiden University, alongside graduate students from the University of Galway. For the early-career researchers involved, the discovery is both scientifically groundbreaking and personally inspiring. They described it as a career-defining moment and a chance to contribute to a discovery that will shape planetary science for years to come.
Dr. Christian Ginski of the University of Galway, one of the study’s lead authors, said the find was both lucky and extraordinary. “Capturing an image of a forming planet is incredibly difficult,” he said. “But WISPIT 2b gives us a unique chance to understand why so many planetary systems look so different from our own.”
As astronomers continue to study this remarkable system, WISPIT 2b may help answer one of the biggest questions in science: how planets like our own first come into being.
Source: University of Galway.
