Back to the future… of our Universe

| Read time: 3 minute(s)
One of the biggest mysteries of the Universe: How was the Universe born? Don’t we all want to know how stars and planets came into existence? Well, maybe in a few years we would solve this mystery. Researchers have discovered a planet which approximately 45 million years old, orbiting one of its brightest young stars. The star and its planet could provide valuable information on how planetary bodies form. The exoplanet outside of the solar system was found as part of NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission. While thousands of exoplanet discoveries have already been made, only a handful have been discovered circling relatively young stars. Planets can take millions or billions of years to reach maturity. Since that process cannot be observed in real-time, researchers are searching for planets around young stars to catch the process in action and learn how planets form and evolve. By finding solar systems that are different from our own - especially young ones - we can learn why Earth and our own solar system evolved in the ways that they did. The planet was first observed by NASA satellite in November of 2018 and was confirmed by the Dartmouth team in March using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and other ground- and space-based observatories, such as the South African Large Telescope (SALT). Fun fact The universe has no centre and is constantly expanding (getting bigger) every second – making it impossible to reach the edge.

One of the biggest mysteries of the Universe: How was the Universe born? Don’t we all want to know how stars and planets came into existence? Well, maybe in a few years we would solve this mystery.

Researchers have discovered a planet which approximately 45 million years old, orbiting one of its brightest young stars. The star and its planet could provide valuable information on how planetary bodies form.

The exoplanet outside of the solar system was found as part of NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission. While thousands of exoplanet discoveries have already been made, only a handful have been discovered circling relatively young stars.

Planets can take millions or billions of years to reach maturity. Since that process cannot be observed in real-time, researchers are searching for planets around young stars to catch the process in action and learn how planets form and evolve.

By finding solar systems that are different from our own – especially young ones – we can learn why Earth and our own solar system evolved in the ways that they did.

The planet was first observed by NASA satellite in November of 2018 and was confirmed by the Dartmouth team in March using data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and other ground- and space-based observatories, such as the South African Large Telescope (SALT).

Fun fact

The universe has no centre and is constantly expanding (getting bigger) every second – making it impossible to reach the edge.

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