At 3 million years old, this newly discovered planet is one of the youngest, study finds

A "baby" planet that astronomers recently observed some 430 light-years from Earth may be the youngest planet ever discovered.

Forming an estimated 3 million years ago, the planet may seem old to us. But in cosmic lifespans, the celestial object discovered by astronomers at the University of North Carolina is in its relative infancy.

For contrast, the oldest planet yet discovered is 12.7 billion years old – almost three times our 4.5 billion-year-old Earth. What's more, the massive newborn planet is believed to be still growing into adulthood.

In a study published this month in the journal Nature, researchers posit that the planet's existence provides a glimpse into the early stages of planetary formation and challenges previous theories about how fast planets can take shape.

“Discovering planets like this one allows us to look back in time, catching a glimpse of planetary formation as it happens,” said Madyson Barber, study lead author and astronomer at UNC-Chapel Hill, in a statement.

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Infant planet found with NASA's TESS space telescope

The planet's official name, IRAS 04125+2902 b, is a long one, but it's also known as TIDYE-1b.

It was thanks to an extraordinary stroke of fortune that astronomers were able to detect it all in the Taurus Molecular Cloud, an active stellar nursery not far from Earth filled with hundreds of newborn stars.

The cloud is an abundant source of observations and insights for astronomers studying the formation and evolution of young stars. But because young systems like the Taurus cloud are typically shrouded by disks of debris, planets located within them are usually obscured from the prying gaze of space telescopes like NASA's TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite.)

Perplexingly, the outer debris disk surrounding the infant planet has been sharply warped, exposing the baby world to extensive transit observations by TESS, according to NASA.

TIDYE-1b could be mini-Neptune or super-Earth

The fortuitous discovery, the researchers said, provides an opportunity for astronomers to learn more about emerging planetary systems and how they can differ from our own solar system.

While Earth took 10-20 million years to form, TIDYE-1b emerged in a mere 3 million years and orbits its star roughly every week, compared to our 365-day solar orbit, researchers said. What's more, the planet doesn't appear to have formed from a flat disc of dust and gas – the process that gave planets in our solar system an alignment not unlike a flat pancake.

"Here, the disk is tilted, misaligned with both the planet and its star – a surprising twist that challenges our current understanding of how planets form,” said UNC-Chapel Hill astronomer Andrew Mann, a principal investigator of the Young Worlds Laboratory, in a statement.

Despite its massive size comparable to that of Jupiter, TIDYE-1b is no more than about a third the heft of the gas giant of our solar system, according to NASA. Instead, the planet is believed to have a low density and inflated atmosphere that could shrink overtime, making TIDYE-1b more comparable to a gaseous mini-Neptune or even a rocky super-Earth.

UNC researchers plan for more study of newborn planet

Because of the enticing findings, the researchers say more observations are warranted to analyze how the planet’s atmosphere compares to the surrounding disk material.

Collecting such data, they argue, could provide clues about TIDYE-1b's journey to its current orbit. The team also plans to examine whether the planet is still growing or whether it's losing its upper atmosphere due to the influence of its host star.

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Newborn 'baby' planet may be youngest ever found, astronomers say