Astronomers Discover First Exoplanet in Star’s Multi-Ring Disk

Quick Summary:

• Astronomers discovered an infant exoplanet named WISPIT 2b, located about 430 light-years from Earth, using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile.
• The planet, around the size of Jupiter and about 5 million years old, is consuming material from a protoplanetary disk around its parent star called WISPIT 2. This disk resembles multi-ring structures akin to a vinyl record.
• It is the first confirmed detection of a planet within such a multi-ringed protoplanetary disk and onyl the second young exoplanet confirmed around a star similar to our sun.
• Infrared imaging revealed that WISPIT 2b still glows due to residual heat from its recent formation.
• Observations by researchers at Leiden University and others suggest this system might serve as a benchmark for studying interactions between planets and disks and also broader processes involved in planetary formation.

Images accompanying this study include:

1. WISPIT 2b carving through its dusty protoplanetary groove (Infrared view).

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(Credit: ESO/R. F. van Capelleveen/C.Ginski/R. van Capelleveen et al.)

1. WISPIT system observed under optical light conditions revealing intricate formations within the wider space background.

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*(Credit :External Physutorial powered ener Advanced Techniques concept )

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