Astronomers have found the smallest planet in the galaxy

In the latest study, they pointed to ALMA in AS 209, a star slightly heavier than the Sun. At only 1.5 million years old, it recently started burning hydrogen – the star equivalent of a child saying its first words.

AS 209 peripheral disk was found to have multiple vacuoles. And in one of those gaps, ALMA detected radio wave signals from a planet-making storm, the gas that may surround a Jupiter-like world that is still under construction.

The exact age of the planet will not be determined immediately, but it will likely be very similar to its newborn star. But his youth wasn’t the only thing that caught the attention of astronomers. It is also confusing away from its star. Neptune, the farthest planet in our solar system, is about 2.8 billion miles from the sun. This exoplanet is about 19 billion miles from its star.

This raises the question of our necks in the woods.

The size of the disk of debris that formed Earth and other planets is uncertain. “The disc is probably slightly larger than Neptune’s orbit, which is why Neptune is the farthest planet,” said Dr. Johansen. But perhaps our planet-making center is more similar to AS 209. If that’s the case, “nor can we rule out that our solar system has planets beyond Neptune,” he said — perhaps should be planet 9 Which some astronomers believe lingers in the distant darkness.

in the coming days, James Webb Space Telescope He would determine the mass of the newborn planet and study the chemistry of the atmosphere. And by painting a detailed picture of one of the smallest worlds known to science, these observations will bring us all closer to answering the ultimate question, Jihan Baian astronomer at the University of Florida and study author: “Where did we come from?”

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