Four exoplanets 'hot Jupiter' discoveries around a young star

The researchers discovered a strange young star and young child with four gigantic planets in orbit. This is the first time that so many gigantic planets are discovered in such a young star system.

The star at the center of this system, CI Tau, is only two million years old and is surrounded by a protoplanetary disk made of dust and ice. In this disc, the planets, asteroids, moons and other objects of the system are formed. Scientists already knew this system because they had found a Jupiter, a gas giant exoplanet in orbit close to their star, the CT. This was the first hot Jupiter to be discovered around such a young star.

This prompted astronomers at the University of Cambridge to use Atacama's Large Millimeter / Submillimeter (ALMA) chart to determine whether this planet had a sibling, according to study author Cathie Clarke of the University of Cambridge. Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge. Clark says his team found "large structures in the disc that we interpret as planets". The team basically found three gaps (in addition to Jupiter) in CI Tau's disc, which are probably caused by three giant gas planets. This brings the total to four hot Jupiters around the star.

It also makes the worlds unique among solar systems known at this young age.

Inside the Tau CI

As new technologies emerge, the team hopes to be able to detect the planets themselves, instead of just dropping the disc they interpret as planets, Clarke said. The researchers also want to explore how this strange solar system has formed. This is difficult with current theories.

"Planet formation patterns tend to focus on the ability to create the types of planets already observed, so new discoveries do not necessarily match the models," Clarke said in a statement.

This work is published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.