In a discovery that reshapes our understanding of how worlds are formed, astronomers have photographed a planet in the process of being born — a first in human history. The newborn gas giant, named WISPIT 2b, is seen forming inside a ring of dust surrounding a young star located 437 light-years away in the constellation Centaurus.
This remarkable image, captured by the Magellan Telescope in Chile and the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona, offers the clearest view yet of a planet emerging from the swirling material that makes up a protoplanetary disk — a region often called a “planetary nursery.”
A Planet Caught in Its Cosmic Cradle
The star WISPIT 2 is just a few million years old, and around it spins a glowing ring of dust and gas. Within this ring lies a dark gap — a space carved out by the growing planet itself as it sweeps up surrounding material. Inside that gap, scientists detected the faint glow of hydrogen-alpha light, the telltale signature of hot gas falling onto a forming planet.
That signal confirmed what astronomers had only theorized for decades: we can actually watch a planet being born in real time.
WISPIT 2b is estimated to be around five times the mass of Jupiter and only five million years old — a cosmic infant compared to Earth’s 4.5-billion-year history. Unlike most gas giants we know, which may have formed farther out and migrated inward, this planet appears to be forming in place, right where it was detected.
Peering Into the Birth of a Planet
Dr. Thayne Currie, one of the lead researchers on the discovery, explained that observing a planet in formation has long been one of astronomy’s greatest challenges. “We’ve had indirect evidence for decades — but this is the first time we’re actually seeing the process happen before our eyes,” he said.
Using advanced imaging techniques, the team filtered light at the specific wavelength emitted by hydrogen gas. This allowed them to isolate the glow of material as it fell onto WISPIT 2b, effectively catching the planet in the act of forming.
The image shows the planet shining faintly against the bright background of its star’s dust disk — a rare and delicate view that required precise alignment and powerful optics. Every photon of light captured adds to a bigger picture of how gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn may have formed in our own solar system billions of years ago.
The Mystery of a Second Object
Intriguingly, astronomers also detected a second faint object orbiting even closer to WISPIT 2. While its nature is still uncertain, it could be another young planet or a dense clump of material still gathering mass. If confirmed, WISPIT 2b might not be alone in its stellar nursery — potentially making this system one of the youngest multi-planet environments ever observed.
Such discoveries are crucial to refining existing models of planet formation. Scientists once debated whether gas giants primarily form through a slow buildup of dust and rock or via a rapid collapse of gas within the disk. Observations like this one provide real-time evidence supporting the accretion model, where young planets grow by pulling in surrounding gas and dust.
A Window Into Our Own Origins
For astronomers, witnessing this process is like looking back in time — to the moment when our own solar system began to take shape. Every detail of WISPIT 2b’s formation helps refine our understanding of how Earth and its neighbors emerged from similar disks of dust billions of years ago.
“This is more than just a snapshot of a distant world,” said co-author Dr. Katherine Follette. “It’s a direct window into the birth of planetary systems — and, in a way, into our own cosmic origins.”
As telescopes grow more advanced and adaptive optics improve, scientists expect to uncover more forming planets across the galaxy. Each discovery will bring us one step closer to understanding how diverse and dynamic planetary systems truly are.
A New Era of Planetary Discovery
The first image of WISPIT 2b marks a turning point in astronomy — moving from speculation to direct observation. It confirms that the gaps seen in dusty disks around young stars are not just empty spaces but cradles of creation, where new worlds are born and shaped.
This single image of a glowing, infant planet may one day stand as one of the defining moments in our quest to understand where we come from — and how many other worlds are waiting to be found among the stars.
Source:
NASA – “Discovery Alert: ‘Baby’ Planet Photographed in a Ring around a Star for the First Time” (September 30, 2025)