A planet roughly as massive as Jupiter was already growing around Elias 2-24 before the system reached one million years old—even though current models require about five million years to build a Jupiter at Jupiter’s distance, and this planet sits roughly ten times farther out.

Keck archive data confirm a still-growing planet in the 55-AU gap around Elias 2-24, but its 1.9-to-4.0-Jupiter-mass estimate remains model-dependent. The post A planet roughly as massive as Jupiter was already growing around Elias 2-24 before the system reached one million years old—even though current models require about five million years to build a Jupiter at Jupiter’s distance, and this planet sits roughly ten times farther out. appeared first on Space Daily .