Scientists have discovered a planet that is still in its infancy. Named TIDYE-1b, this planet is only 3 million years old. It is also known as IRAS 04125+2902 b. Compared to Earth, which is estimated to be 4.5 billion years old, this ‘baby planet’ is roughly 1,500 times younger. TIDYE-1b is not as dense as Earth but is about 11 times larger in diameter. This discovery could provide significant insights into the early stages of planet formation.
TIDYE-1b was discovered by Madison Barber, a graduate student at the University of North Carolina (UNC). Her study was published in the journal Nature. Barber identified TIDYE-1b using the transit method, which involves observing a planet as it passes in front of its star, causing a slight dimming in the star’s brightness. NASA’s TESS telescope played a key role in this discovery.
Why is this baby planet so unique?
Before TIDYE-1b, over a dozen young planets aged between 10 and 40 million years had been discovered using the transit method. However, TIDYE-1b is much younger than all of them. This discovery is rare because young planets like this are typically surrounded by gas and dust, known as a “protoplanetary disk.” This is a debris field orbiting a star in the form of a ring, where new planets are formed.
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Andrew Mann, an associate professor at UNC, explained, “Planets generally form from a flat disk of dust and gas, which is why the planets in our solar system are aligned in a ‘pancake-like’ arrangement. However, in TIDYE-1b’s case, the disk is tilted and misaligned with both the planet and its star. This twist challenges our current understanding of planet formation.”