Elias 2-24 b confirmed as the youngest known exoplanet

Astronomers have confirmed the discovery of Elias 2-24 b, the youngest known exoplanet to date. Estimated to be less than one million years old, the planet is roughly the mass of Jupiter and is located approximately 450 light-years from Earth.

The planet is still embedded within the protoplanetary disk of gas and dust surrounding its host star. Observations indicate it is actively accreting material from this disk, providing a rare real-time look at the process of planet formation.

This discovery challenges current scientific models. Existing theories suggest that a Jupiter-sized planet at such a distance from its star should take approximately five million years to form. The rapid development of Elias 2-24 b suggests that current planet-formation models may be missing critical processes. The research, led by Andrea Bernardi of the Universidad Diego Portales in Chile, utilized archival data from the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii.