Astronomers confirm the youngest planet ever found; less than 1 million years old

Astronomers using NASA-funded data discovered Elias 2-24 b, the youngest known planet at less than a million years old, orbiting star Elias 2-24 about 450 light-years away. The Jupiter-sized planet remains embedded in its dusty birth disk. This discovery challenges existing planet-formation models, which previously struggled to explain planets older than 5 million years.

Elias 2-24 b shows us that even our best planet-formation models are still missing some important processes.