Faintest Planet Ever Seen | Anchorage News

Astronomers have finally spotted the dimmest planet ever directly imaged— a cold gas giant orbiting a baby star— and two teams stumbled upon it independently, using different telescopes and even old data. Found near Beta Pictoris, a mere 20 million-year-old star system, the planet is slightly bigger than Jupiter and takes 91 years to orbit. Its discovery, made possible by NASA’s Webb and the Very Large Telescope, offers a rare peek at how planets form and evolve in their earliest stages— a cosmic needle in a haystack that’s rewriting our understanding of planetary infancy. Listen in comfort:Get a discount on a Soli Pillow: http://solipillow.com/discount/dnn. Advertise on DNN:[email protected] This is an automated, high-level news summary based on public reporting.Report issues to [email protected]. View sources & latest updates:https://sources.thednn.ai/e1ad9f2bfee36bb2