An Age of Magic

Baby planet found!

Astronomers have discovered the youngest planet orbiting a solar-type star outside our solar system. The giant planet is 35 million years old and six times the mass of Jupiter, according to astronomers. Our planet is more than 100 times more ancient at 4.5billion years old. Named BD+20 1790b and situated 83 light years away from Earth, it is the youngest planet orbiting a star of a similar size to our Sun.

Only one young planet, aged 100 million years, was previously known but the newly-discovered planet is about three times younger. University of Hertfordshire astronomer Dr Maria-Cruz Galvez-Ortiz, who was among the international team which identified the planet, described it as ‘an exciting discovery’. Young stars are usually excluded from planet searches because they have intense magnetic fields that generate a range of phenomena known collectively as stellar activity, including flares and spots. This can make it difficult to disentangle the signals of planets and activity.

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