Report
Elias 2-24 b Confirmed as Youngest Known Exoplanet
Astronomers confirmed Elias 2-24 b as the youngest known exoplanet, estimated at less than 1 million years old, still forming in its protoplanetary disk ~450 light-years away in Ophiuchus. The Jupiter-mass planet was identified via reanalysis of Keck Observatory coronagraph data.
TLDR
The discovery challenges existing planet-formation models, which previously suggested the youngest planets were >5 million years old (PDS 70, WISPIT 2 systems). Observing a planet still in active formation provides rare direct insight into planetary birth processes and may require revision of formation timescales and mechanisms. This advances understanding of how planetary systems emerge.
Combined views
6
1 Source, first seen ago
