Astronomers have detected the youngest planet ever outside our solar system, that can provide new clues about how planets are formed and evolve through time.

To date, astronomers have already identified more than 3,000 exoplanets that are orbiting distant stars. However, almost all of these planets are the same age as Earth, which can no longer offer crucial clues how planets formed since they are already established.

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In this new study, astronomers have detected the youngest exoplanet that had just been fully formed known as K2-33b, that is estimated to be around 5 to 10 million years old.

This baby planet was first detected by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, as the telescope noticed some dimming as the planet transited or moved in front of its host star. These dips in brightness suggest how a planet is possibly orbiting its host star, as scientists from the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii confirmed these findings.

According to author of the study, Caltech's Trevor David, Earth is considered to be a middle aged planet at 4.5 billion years old, around 45 years old for humans. In comparison, the baby planet K2-33b  could possibly be an infant or just a few weeks old.

According to co-author of the study, Erik Petigura of Caltech, this is truly a remarkable discovery in exoplanetary science, as this newborn planet can greatly help in the understanding of how planets form, which can lead to more clues about understanding the origins of life and how Earth formed.

During the development of stars, they are first enshrouded in a protoplanetary disk of thick dust and gases, that eventually form planets. As this young star reaches a few million years old, this disk slowly disappears where the material from the disk has been absorbed, resulting in baby planets.

Now, the host star of K2-33b only possesses a small amount of disk material, based on observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which suggests that the disk is already in its final stages of disappearing.

David adds how this region just completed its star making process, which is known as Upper Scorpius, where there are still a quarter of stars left that still possess bright protoplanetary disks. The rest of the stars do not possess such disks which means that planet formation is already completed in these regions, which offers a good chance of discovering new exoplanets here.

This new study is published in the journal Nature.

Tagsyoungest planet, baby planet, planet formation, Exoplanets