New Discovery: A Hungry Baby Planet Eating Its Way Through a Protoplanetary

Updated on Aug 29, 2025 | By Jameswebb Discovery Editorial Team 

Astronomers have just made one of the most exciting discoveries in recent years: a newborn planet, WISPIT 2b, caught feeding on gas and dust inside a protoplanetary disc. This is the first clear image of a baby planet actively shaping its birthplace, and it gives us a rare glimpse into how worlds like Earth may have formed billions of years ago.

The discovery was made with the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, using its advanced SPHERE instrument. The image shows a spectacular disc of gas and dust surrounding a young star. The disc has multiple rings and gaps, and in one of those gaps lies the planet WISPIT 2b. At about five times the mass of Jupiter, this gas giant is still growing, pulling in matter from its surroundings.

For decades, scientists have predicted that gaps in protoplanetary discs were caused by newborn planets carving paths through the dust and gas. Now, this theory has been confirmed with direct observation.

What Is a Protoplanetary Disc?

A protoplanetary disc is a disc-shaped structure of dust and gas that surrounds young stars. These discs are the birthplaces of planets. Over time, tiny dust grains collide and stick together. As they grow larger, gravity takes over and pulls in even more material, creating clumps that eventually become protoplanets.

As protoplanets orbit within the disc, they clear out paths of dust and gas, leaving behind visible rings and gaps. The discovery of WISPIT 2b shows this process in action, providing clear evidence of how planets form.

Key Facts About WISPIT 2b

• First clear image of a baby planet embedded in a disc with multiple rings.

• Mass: about five times the size of Jupiter.

• Host star: a younger version of our Sun.

• Still forming: detected hydrogen gas shows the planet is actively accreting matter.

This makes WISPIT 2b one of the youngest planets ever detected, and one of the most important discoveries for understanding planet formation.

How Scientists Detected the Planet

Spotting a planet next to a blazing young star is incredibly difficult. To do this, astronomers used some of the most advanced instruments in the world.

The SPHERE instrument on the Very Large Telescope blocked out the starlight and used adaptive optics to sharpen the image, allowing the faint planet to be seen.

To confirm that WISPIT 2b is still forming, researchers used the MagAO-X system on the Magellan Telescope in Chile. This instrument detected hydrogen gas falling onto the planet, proving that it is still feeding and growing.

Together, these observations provided the first clear proof of a newborn planet carving a gap in its disc while accreting material.

Why This Discovery Matters

This discovery is important because it shows the process of planet formation in real time. Every planet, including Earth, was once born in a disc like this. By studying WISPIT 2b, astronomers can better understand how our Solar System formed more than 4.5 billion years ago.

The discovery also confirms a long-standing theory: that the rings and gaps in protoplanetary discs are created by planets forming and clearing their paths. What was once only a prediction has now been observed directly.

A Glimpse Into the Early Solar System

WISPIT 2b offers a window into the past. Its host star is a younger version of our Sun, meaning this planetary system may look very much like our Solar System in its early stages. Studying it could reveal new clues about how Earth, Jupiter, and the other planets were formed.

Jupiter and Saturn may have carved similar rings in our Solar System’s disc, while Earth and the rocky planets grew from smaller clumps of material left behind. WISPIT 2b shows us what that process may have looked like.

Connection to the James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is already observing many protoplanetary discs across the galaxy. With its ability to see in infrared, JWST can peer through dusty clouds and measure the composition of discs and planets.

By combining the data from Webb, the Very Large Telescope, and the Magellan Telescope, astronomers will be able to build a complete picture of how planets form. Future observations could reveal how quickly gas giants grow, whether rocky planets can form in the same systems, and how common these baby planets are in the universe.

Frequently Asked Questions

How far away is WISPIT 2b?
It orbits a young star located hundreds of light-years from Earth.

Why is it called WISPIT 2b?
Exoplanets are named after their host star (WISPIT 2) with a lowercase letter. The first planet discovered in the system is called “b.”

Is WISPIT 2b habitable?
No. It is a massive gas giant about five times the size of Jupiter. However, its discovery helps us understand the conditions where smaller, rocky planets like Earth could form.

Could Earth have looked like WISPIT 2b once?
Not exactly. Earth is a rocky planet, while WISPIT 2b is a gas giant. But Earth did form in a disc like this, so studying WISPIT 2b shows us what the early Solar System may have looked like.

The Future of Planet Discovery

This discovery is only the beginning. With next-generation telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope, the Extremely Large Telescope in Chile, and NASA’s upcoming Roman Space Telescope, astronomers expect to find dozens of newborn planets in the coming years.

Each new detection will help answer one of the biggest questions in science: how do planets like Earth form?

Conclusion

The discovery of WISPIT 2b, a hungry baby planet still feeding inside its protoplanetary disc, is a breakthrough in astronomy. For the first time, astronomers have clearly observed a planet shaping its environment while actively growing in size.

This historic finding not only explains how planets form, but also connects us to the earliest history of our own Solar System.