A Planet Unlike Any Other
Astronomers have discovered a young planet behaving in an extraordinary way—consuming its surroundings at an incredible rate. The newly observed rogue planet, named Cha 1107-7626, is located about 620 light-years from Earth in the constellation Chamaeleon. Unlike most planets that orbit stars, this one drifts freely through space, offering scientists a rare glimpse into how such celestial bodies evolve.
A Voracious Young World
According to researchers, Cha 1107-7626 has a mass between five and ten times greater than Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. During observations made using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, scientists detected the planet consuming gas and dust at an astonishing rate — around six billion tons per second.
“This outburst is extraordinary,” said Víctor Almendros-Abad, lead author of the study from the INAF Astronomical Observatory of Palermo in Italy. “It shows that the same physical processes that drive star formation can also occur on a planetary scale.”
A Glimpse Into Planet Formation
At just one to two million years old, this young planet is still in its early stages of development. Researchers believe strong magnetic fields are pulling in material from its surrounding disk, a process typically seen only in young stars. The discovery challenges long-held ideas about how planets form and evolve.
Co-author Belinda Damian from the University of St Andrews in Scotland explained that rogue planets like Cha 1107-7626 might form in two ways — either through the collapse of a gas cloud, similar to stars, or as part of a normal planetary system before being ejected into space.
Redefining What We Know About Planets
While Cha 1107-7626 shares similarities with stars in its formation process, it lacks the mass needed to ignite hydrogen fusion at its core. Scientists believe this discovery blurs the line between stars and planets, reshaping our understanding of how these celestial bodies develop.
“This is an exciting find,” said Damian. “We often think of planets as quiet and stable, but this one shows they can be just as dynamic as stars during their birth.”
The discovery of Cha 1107-7626 provides a new perspective on the diversity and complexity of planetary formation across the universe — and offers a deeper look into the mysterious lives of rogue worlds.
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