A Galway astronomer has led an international team in discovering a new planet, estimated to be five million years old and ten times the mass of Jupiter. The planet, named WISPIT 2c, is located in the same system where the team first identified another planet, WISPIT 2b, in 2025. Both planets reside in the constellation of the Eagle, visible from the northern hemisphere between July and November.
The discovery was made by Chloe Lawlor, a PhD student at the University of Galway’s Centre for Astronomy, working alongside colleagues from Germany and the Netherlands. The team’s earlier find suggested the possibility of additional objects in the system, but they were initially unsure whether what they detected was a planet or simply a large dust clump.
Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile’s Atacama Desert, the researchers employed multiple telescopes to act as a single, large virtual telescope. This allowed them to capture a spectrum image of the object, revealing its atmospheric composition. Analysis of this "chemical fingerprint" detected the presence of carbon monoxide gas, a molecule commonly found in young planets.
“When we saw it, we knew we had something significant,” said Lawlor. The carbon monoxide produces a strong, distinctive signal in telescope data, providing the crucial confirmation of the planet’s existence.
WISPIT 2c is notable not only for its size, twice that of WISPIT 2b, but also for its orbit, which is four times closer to its host star. This proximity makes it extremely challenging to detect with ground-based telescopes, highlighting the significance of the team’s achievement. The planets are part of what is only the second known young multi-planet system, with a multi-ringed dust disk that may resemble the early structure of our own Solar System.
Scientists believe WISPIT 2c offers a rare opportunity to study how massive planets form and evolve. Its youth, combined with its chemical and physical characteristics, provides new insights into the processes that ultimately led to the formation of Earth. By observing planets like WISPIT 2c, astronomers can better understand the early stages of planetary systems and the conditions that allow gas giants and terrestrial planets to emerge.
Details of the research will be published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, marking a major step forward in the study of planetary formation and the evolution of young planetary systems.
