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Youngest Planet Discovered

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the just-a-two-thousand-year-old-baby dept.

qazsedcft writes "BBC is reporting that Astronomers have discovered what appears to be the youngest planet, being less than 2000 years old. If this proves to be true it could challenge our models of solar system formation."

1 of 182 comments (clear)

  1. Re:"Challenge our models"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    There really is an open controversy in the field regarding whether the gravitational instability model or the core accretion model is appropriate for large planets. Instability occurs very quickly and tends to produce big planets (the disc just clumps); accretion takes a long time and tends to build smaller planets (things have to hit and stick).

    Most astronomers believe that core accretion is correct, but there's a significant numerical astrophysics community who believes the instability model. Arguments tend to be about how cold the disc needs to be for the mechanism to work.

    The discovery of large early planets strengthens the evidence for the instability model.

    However, if I'm reading right, the 1600 yr timescale is mostly could-it-be speculation. Haven't read the underlying paper yet though.

    IANA.. oh, wait. I actually am a planetary astrophysicist.