Astronomers have found a ‘youngest planet ever discovered’ deep space. This discovery could shed light on how planets form.
According to an international team of scientists led by the University of Hawaii, the planet 2M0437b is’several millions years old’ and is believed to be a few times larger than Jupiter.
2M0437b’s lifespan is still quite young, so it is still very hot from the energy that was released during its formation.
It has a temperature similar to ‘the lava erupting from Kīlauea Volcano,’ according to the statement announcing the discovery.
The Subaru Telescope was used to discover the planet, which is approximately 400 light-years from Earth.
Since then, researchers were studying the object with the Keck Observatory on Maunakea to make sure it was truly a companion to the 2M0437 star.

400 light-years away from Earth, astronomers found ‘one the youngest planets ever discovered’. Exoplanet 2M0437b has a life span of’several millions years’ and is considered to be a few times larger than Jupiter.

The Subaru Telescope (pictured) was used to discover the planet for the first time in 2018.
The star 2M0437 is slow and it and its orbiting planet are located in a stellar nursery’ called the Taurus Cloud.
Eric Gaidos, the study’s lead author, said in a statement, “This serendipitous finding adds to an elite group of planets that can be directly observed with our telescopes.
“By studying the light from this world, we can learn a lot about its composition and possibly where and when it formed in a long-vanished disc of gas and dust surrounding its host star.

Given that planet 2M0437bis so young, it likely has a extremely high temperature, akin to that of ‘the lava erupting from Kīlauea Volcano,’ the scientists noted
Given that it is so young, the planet likely has a extremely high temperature, akin to that of ‘the lava erupting from Kīlauea Volcano,’ the scientists noted.
Exoplanet 2M0437b orbits at approximately 100 times the distance of the Earth to the sun, which is a much wider orbit than other planets in our solar system.
Scientists used ‘adaptive optic technology’ to correct the image distortions that Earth’s atmospheric causes.
Michael Liu, study co-author, added that “Two of world’s largest telescopes, adaptive optical technology, and Maunakea’s clear sky were all that was required to make this discovery.”
“We all look forward to more such discoveries and more detailed studies on such planets using the technologies and telescopes that the future brings,” he said.
Astronomers are excited about learning more about the planet, especially as new telescopes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope (which is due to launch in 2014), are being launched.
Gaidos stated that observations using space telescopes like NASA’s Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes could help identify gases in the atmosphere of the planet and reveal whether it has a moon-forming disc.
The study was published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.