51 Eridani b: Astronomers discover young planet that 'looks like Jupiter' 100 light years away
The new planet is estimated to be just 20 million years old
Astronomers have detected a methane-shrouded world 100 light years away that may hold the key to understanding how planets form in the dust clouds swirling around stars.
An instrument mounted on a telescope in Chile that was designed to study “cool” planets beyond the Solar System has found its first Jupiter-like object – a young, gas-filled planet rich in methane.
The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) attached to the Gemini South telescope in the Atacama desert, was built to discover faint, young planets orbiting bright stars – and in its first month of operation it found one, scientists said.
Astronomers described the extra-solar planet, called 51 Eridani b, as having about twice the mass of Jupiter, and the strongest methane signature of any “exoplanet” (a planet that orbits a star other than the Sun).
The new planet is estimated to be just 20 million years old, compared with the 4.5bn years of Earth, which will allow astronomers to study the early stages of a planet’s evolution.
Travis Barman, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona who took part in the study published in the journal Science, said: “51 Eri b is the first young planet that probably looks like Jupiter did billions of years ago, making it ... our most important corner-piece of the planet-formation jigsaw puzzle.”
Dr Barman added: “We have been searching for evidence of methane since the first exoplanet was discovered, as it implies conditions similar to what we see in the atmospheres of our own giant planets in the Solar System. To have found such an extraordinary example of a methane-rich atmosphere so early in our survey with GPI is really encouraging.”
More than 1,000 exoplanets have been detected over the past two decades, many with the Kepler space telescope. The telescope in Chile, however, works in a different way and uses a process called adaptive optics to cut out the blinding light from a nearby sun.
“Many of the exoplanets astronomers have imaged before have atmospheres that look like very cool stars. This one looks like a planet,” said Dr Bruce Macintosh of Stanford University, who led the construction of GPI and now leads the planet-hunting survey.
“51 Eri b is the first one that’s cold enough and close enough to the star that it could have formed right where it is the old-fashioned way. This planet really could have formed the same way Jupiter did – this whole planetary system could be a lot like ours,” he said.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
About The Independent commenting
Independent Premium Comments can be posted by members of our membership scheme, Independent Premium. It allows our most engaged readers to debate the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent Premium. The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to Independent Premium. Due to the sheer scale of this comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates.
Delete Comment
Report Comment
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community Guidelines.
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community Guidelines.
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.