Astronomers Identify Potential Jupiter-Like Planet Forming in Young Disk Around WRAY 15-1880
Astronomers using VLT-SPHERE, VLT-MUSE, and ALMA have identified a candidate Jupiter-like companion within the disk gap of the young star WRAY 15-1880, located in the Corona Australis star-forming region. The star is estimated to be approximately 2.8 million years old and hosts a pre-transitional disk, placing it in a late phase of disk evolution where planet formation may be actively occurring. The finding offers a rare opportunity to study a potentially forming giant planet in its natal environment, which could help constrain models of planetary formation.
A new study accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics presents multi-instrument observations of WRAY 15-1880 (also known as RX J1842.9-3532), a young star roughly 2.8 ± 0.7 million years old in the Corona Australis complex. Using high-contrast polarimetric imaging from VLT-SPHERE, archival VLT-MUSE spectroscopy, and ALMA millimeter data, researchers identified a candidate companion within the star's disk gap with a mass estimated between 0.3 and 7.6 Jupiter masses. The candidate's spectrum is consistent with a T3 spectral type, in line with expectations for an object of a few Jupiter masses. An emission blob detected northwest of the star in ALMA data appears to rotate in concert with the candidate companion, which the authors interpret as a possible vortex or dust trap at the m=1 Lindblad resonance of the planet — a feature predicted by planet-disk interaction models. Accretion onto the candidate planet was not detected in the MUSE data, though the authors note this could reflect insufficient observational contrast, an unfavorable viewing geometry, or the possibility that the detected feature is a disk irregularity rather than a true companion. The study also reports the discovery of a microjet extending perpendicularly from the star relative to the disk plane.
What's missing
The study acknowledges that planetary accretion was not detected, leaving open whether the candidate is a genuine forming planet or a disk structure artifact. Key limitations include the lack of multi-epoch astrometry to confirm common proper motion or orbital motion of the candidate companion, which would be necessary to rule out a background object. Follow-up observations at higher contrast and with direct accretion tracers (e.g., H-alpha with sufficient sensitivity) are needed to confirm the planetary nature of the candidate.
What different sources said
- arXiv astro-phCenter
KRONOS I: The $1{-}2.8\mu$m JWST Transmission Spectrum of the 23 Myr V1298 Tau c
- Phys.orgCenter
JWST reveals dawn-dusk atmosphere split on ultra-hot exoplanet WASP-121 b
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