Scientists have discovered a Jupiter-like planet in a young solar system that could help us gain insight into planet formation in our own neighborhood.
The new planet, dubbed 51 Eridani b, is the first planet to be spotted by the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), the University of Montreal reported. The planet is a million times fainter than the stars in its system, and has the strongest methane signature ever detected on an alien planet.
"The GPI instrument, an international collaborative effort, has an eagle eye designed to detect and to image exoplanets, " said René Doyon, professor at the Physics Department of the University of Montreal and director of iREx.
The Jupiter-like planet 51 Eridani b appears to be only about 20 million years old, which is relatively young. Along with having the strongest methane signature ever detected, the planet also boasts the titles of coldest and lowest-mass planet ever imaged. These signatures are believed to show a picture of what our own Jupiter looked like in its infancy.
"This is the first time that we directly detected an exoplanet whose atmosphere and distance to its star is similar to that of the giant planets of our own system," said Julien Rameau, researcher at iREx and UdeM.
Findings made with GPI could help scientists obtain clues as to how solar systems form. Researchers believe the gas giants in our solar system developed by building up a core over millions of years and then absorbing hydrogen and other gases to form an atmosphere. Jupiter-like planets that have been studied in the past have proved to be much hotter than models would predict them to be, suggesting they formed more quickly than expected. 51 Eridani b is young enough to provide us with a first hand look at the process.
"51 Eri b is the first one that's cold enough and close enough to the star that it could have indeed formed right where it is the 'old-fashioned way,'" said Bruce Macintosh, a professor of physics in the Kavli Institute at Stanford. "This planet really could have formed the same way Jupiter did - this whole planetary system could be a lot like ours."
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