A Planet Younger Than One Million Years Challenges How Worlds Grow
Elias 2-24 b
The young planet confirmed in this study.
coronagraph
A tool that blocks a bright star’s light.
exoplanet
A planet that orbits a star outside our solar system.
What happened
Astronomers have confirmed the youngest known planet. NASA, the U.S. space agency, calls it Elias 2-24 b, a planet orbiting a young star named Elias 2-24. The planet is less than one million years old. Earlier record holders were all more than five million years old.
Elias 2-24 b has about Jupiter’s mass. Jupiter is a large planet in our solar system. The planet circles its star inside a disk of gas and dust left from the star’s birth. That setting suggests scientists are seeing a world while it is still forming. The NASA report summarizes a study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
How scientists confirmed it
The team, led by Andrea Bernardi, searched archival data from seven stars. The observations came from the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. Its coronagraph blocked each host star’s bright light. That helped researchers look for faint objects nearby.
The clue began about a decade ago. ALMA, a telescope array in Chile, showed a gap in Elias 2-24’s dusty disk. Later, the Very Large Telescope in Chile saw a faint point inside that gap. Scientists debated whether the point was a planet, an imaging defect, or a background star.
The team then searched the Keck archive. They found the same point in observations from 2018 and 2020. Combining those observations revealed motion over time. The motion looked more like an orbiting planet than an image problem. Multiple telescopes made the confirmation possible.
Why the result is surprising
Planet-formation models predict a long wait for a giant planet. At roughly Jupiter’s distance from its star, a Jupiter-mass planet should take about five million years to form. A planet farther out should take even longer.
Elias 2-24 b is different. It lies 55 times farther from its star than Earth lies from the Sun. That is about ten times farther out than Jupiter’s distance in our solar system. Yet the planet is less than one million years old.
The discovery does not identify a new formation process. It shows that current models are missing something important. Scientists must now find which processes can build a large planet so quickly and so far from its star.
What is established
The team has confirmed Elias 2-24 b as the youngest planet known today. Known matters. The claim means youngest among planets confirmed so far. It does not mean scientists have measured every planet in the universe.
The discovery also exposes a viewing problem. Most of the roughly 6,000 confirmed exoplanets are billions of years old and close to their stars. Young planets are often hidden inside dusty disks. Planets far from their stars can also be difficult to detect. Transit searches work by watching a planet cross its star and dim its light. That method misses many young, distant worlds.
What remains unknown
Researchers still do not know exactly how Elias 2-24 b formed. They also do not know whether this unusually young, distant planet is rare. More observations are needed to compare its growth with other young systems.
What to watch next
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has a more powerful coronagraph. The telescope launched on Aug. 30, 2026. It should make difficult planet searches easier. Roman may find planets in smaller orbits, including Jupiter-like worlds that current telescopes struggle to see.
Finding more baby planets will test whether Elias 2-24 b is an exception. It may also help scientists revise the models that describe how planets grow.
Source: NASA’s official report
The Youngest Known Planet Is Still Growing
📰 Full story: A Planet Younger Than One Million Years Challenges How Worlds Grow
NASA, the U.S. space agency, confirmed Elias 2-24 b, a planet orbiting a young star.
light-year
A very large distance used for space.
coronagraph
A tool that blocks a bright star’s light.
Roman Space Telescope
A new space telescope that can search for faint planets.
💡 The gist
- Elias 2-24 b is the youngest known planet.
- It is less than one million years old.
- Its distant location challenges planet-formation models.
What was found?
Elias 2-24 b circles a young star about 450 light-years away. It has about Jupiter’s mass. Jupiter is a large planet in our solar system.
Scientists think the planet is still forming inside a disk of gas and dust. The disk has a gap. That gap may show where the planet gathered nearby material.
Elias 2-24 b is an exoplanet. An exoplanet is a planet outside our solar system. Most known exoplanets are much older. Many are also close to their stars.
How was it confirmed?
Bright stars can hide nearby planets. Researchers used a coronagraph at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. A coronagraph blocks the star’s bright light. This makes a faint nearby object easier to see.
About ten years ago, ALMA, a telescope array in Chile, found the disk’s gap. The Very Large Telescope in Chile later saw a faint point there. Scientists did not know whether it was a planet, a picture mistake, or a background star.
The team searched Keck’s older records. The point appeared in observations from 2018 and 2020. Its position changed over time. That movement supported a planet.
Why does it matter?
Models say a Jupiter-mass planet needs about five million years. This estimate applies near Jupiter’s distance from its star. A more distant planet should need longer.
Elias 2-24 b is less than one million years old. It is 55 times the Earth-Sun distance. It is about ten times farther out than Jupiter. Scientists may be missing an important growth process.
This discovery does not reveal that missing process. It gives scientists a difficult case to explain. It may help them improve planet-formation models.
What happens next?
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is a new space telescope for difficult searches. It launched on Aug. 30, 2026. Roman has a more powerful coronagraph. It may find planets in smaller orbits, including Jupiter-like worlds.
More baby planets will show whether Elias 2-24 b is unusual. They may also show how quickly distant worlds can grow.
Source: NASA’s report
A Baby Planet Was Found in Space
📰 Full story: A Planet Younger Than One Million Years Challenges How Worlds Grow
NASA, the U.S. space agency, found a baby planet. Its name is Elias 2-24 b.
Elias 2-24 b
The name of this baby planet.
Jupiter
A large planet in our solar system.
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
A new telescope that may find more planets.
Elias 2-24 b is younger than one million years. That makes it the youngest known planet. Older record holders were over five million years old.
It circles a young star. Gas and dust surround that star. The baby planet grows inside them.
It weighs about as much as Jupiter. Jupiter is a large planet in our solar system. The planet is very far from its star. It is 55 times the Earth-Sun distance.
Bright stars can hide nearby planets. Scientists used a coronagraph, a tool that blocks bright light. Then faint objects became easier to see. Older telescope pictures showed a gap in the dust. Another telescope saw a tiny bright spot there. Pictures from 2018 and 2020 showed the spot moving. That movement matched a planet.
Scientists expected such a big planet to take about five million years. But this planet is younger than one million years. It is also much farther away. Scientists do not know why yet.
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is a new space telescope. It may find more baby planets. More finds can teach scientists how planets grow.
Source: NASA’s report