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Boffins spot a SECOND JUPITER – the gas giant's baby sister

Revelation could unlock secrets to our Solar System's formation

Pic Pictures from the universe-scanning Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) show a young Jupiter-like world that formed just 20 million years ago. That's well after the dinosaurs became extinct on grand old Earth.

Gemini spots the planet

51 Eridani b ... Superb imaging from Gemini

The young gas giant, dubbed 51 Eridani b, is about twice the mass of Jupiter, orbits a star about 100 light years away, and is still in the early stages of formation. It's relatively cool, at around 800 degrees Fahrenheit (426°C), making it the lowest-temperature planet yet imaged by the GPI. It also has the most methane-rich atmosphere seen so far.

Spotting the planet was only possible because the 51 Eridani star around which the alien world orbits is relatively dim. In a report for the Science journal, the GPI team details how they managed to block out the main light from the star, and catch sight of the planet, which was only a millionth as bright as our Sun.

"By targeting young stars, we can catch planets while they are hotter and brighter and can study how planets evolve over time," said Arizona State University astrophysicist Jennifer Patience. "Our analysis of the brightness of 51 Eri b at different colors immediately showed us that we were looking at something unique and exciting."

The nubile planet means the star system could give us clues about how our own Solar System evolved. We've found larger and hotter versions of Jupiter before, but never something that was this young and in the right orbit – in 51 Eridani b's case about the equivalent of Saturn's orbital path around our Sun.

“This planet really could have formed the same way Jupiter did; the whole solar system could be a lot like ours,” said Michael Fitzgerald, UCLA associate professor of physics and astronomy. ®

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