Giant planet surrounding a tiny red dwarf star

A giant planet, similar to Jupiter, was discovered by astronomers in a unique place, gravitating around a small red dwarf star.

According to researchers, who published their work Thursday in the journal Science, finding such a large planet near a tiny star might require astronomers to rethink the way planets form.

Red dwarf stars are the most prevalent type of star in the universe and represent more than 70% of those in the cosmos.

Scientists have reportedly used astronomical observatories in Spain and California to analyze the red dwarf star GJ 3512, located 31 light-years from Earth and about one-eighth of the sun's mass.

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The illustration of this artist depicts the planet GJ 3512b, similar to Jupiter, as a blue and cloudy world orbiting a red dwarf star.
((CARMENES / RenderArea / J. Bollaín / C. Gallego))

"The statistics of exoplanets discovered so far seem to indicate that low-mass stars usually harbor small planets like Earth or mini-Neptunes," Morales told Space.com. "The most accepted planet formation model, the basic accretion model, also points in this direction, but here we demonstrate the opposite, that is, we have found a planet gas giant in orbit around a star of very low mass. "

Researchers continue to monitor this system to learn more about its second potential world and perhaps even more planets, Morales said. In addition, they are examining about 300 other red dwarves to search for other exoplanets, he added.

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