--- title: "Scientists Discover Gigantic New World that Defies Previous Planetary Understanding" description: "Scientists have discovered a new planet — and it's really honkin' big! " date: "2021-12-08" modified: "2021-12-08" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/scientists-discover-gigantic-new-planet" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "Exoplanets" - "Very Large Telescope" --- # Scientists Discover Gigantic New World that Defies Previous Planetary Understanding ![Scientists have discovered a new planet — and it's really honkin' big! ]() *\Image: ESO/M. Kornmesser\* Rejoice! Scientists have discovered a new planet — and it's *really honkin' big*! The new exoplanet, named "b Centauri b" for its location orbiting the b Centauri binary star system, is located a cool 325 light years from Earth in the neighboring Centaurus constellation. First photographed by the aptly-named Very Large Telescope at the European Southern Observatory — confusingly located in Chile — b Centauri b is the belle of the ball for a few fascinating reasons, not least of which that it's orbiting a binary system that's collectively somewhere between six and 10 times heavier than our Sun, which now makes the b Centauri system the heaviest planet host in known existence. https://twitter.com/ESO/status/1468612572131872768 b Centauri is now also the hottest star pair to have a planet orbiting it — so hot, in fact, that researchers previously thought it wasn't possible for planets to orbit them. The "main" star, b Centauri A, is roughly three times hotter than our Sun at a whopping 32,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and combined with its supporting star, this system is blasting this newly-discovered planet with brutal quantities of X-ray and ultraviolet radiation. Stars like these, Swedish astronomer Markus Janson [said in a statement]() about the discovery of b Centauri b, "are generally considered as quite destructive and dangerous environments." "It was believed that it should be exceedingly difficult to form large planets around them," he added. This big little planet that could is unlikely for another reason, too: it's 14 times further away from b Centauri than Pluto is from our Sun, or 550 times further from its binary star system than Earth. A [new *Nature* paper]() about the planet by Janson and collaborators notes that this extremely wide orbit — one of the widest in the known universe — may be the reason why the planet has been able to survive all the radiation from the stellar pair it calls home. https://twitter.com/ESO/status/1468616877610086402 Yet another property that sets this new exoplanet apart is the relative youth of the stars it orbits, which are each a mere 15 million years old compared to our Sun's 4.6 billion. For now, [*Space.com* noted](), researchers don't have anything close to a probable conclusion as to how b Centauri b was formed. It could have formed via "core accretion," the theory that posits the formation of planets like Jupiter via dust particles banding together until they become large enough to have gravitational pull. Alternatively, researchers said, it may have been born through "gravitational instability" in which an extant nebula collapses due to its own massive gravity and turns into the same kind of dust particles necessary for planetary formation in the core accretion theory. One thing is for sure, though: b Centauri b's unlikely existence is upending lots of things astrophysicists thought they knew. "Finding a planet around b Centauri was very exciting since it completely changes the picture about massive stars as planet hosts," Janson said. The discovery of this new, relatively nearby planet is a technological feat that would have been impossible to fathom even 30 years ago, [**when the first exoplanet was discovered**](). As megatelescopes become more and more advanced, the universe will likely continue to become stranger and larger than ever. **READ MORE:** "[Record-breaking alien planet spotted circling massive, superhot star duo]()" \[*Space.com*\] **More on the Centaurus constellation:** "[Scientists Plan Private Mission to Hunt for Earths around Alpha Centauri]()" \[*Scientific American*\] ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()