An international team of astronomers, co-led by researchers at University of Galway, has made the unexpected discovery of a new planet.
It has been named WISPIT 2b and is about 430 light years away.
The planet is estimated to be about five million years old and most likely a gas giant of similar size to Jupiter.
It was detected at an early stage of formation around a young version of our own Sun.
The discovery was made using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) in the Atacama Desert in Chile.
The study, which was led by Leiden University, University of Galway and University of Arizona, has been published in the international journal Astrophysical Journal Letters.
"We used these really short snapshot observations of many young stars - only a few minutes per object - to determine if we could see a little dot of light next to them that is caused by a planet," said Dr Christian Ginski, lecturer at the School of Natural Sciences, University of Galway and second author of the study.
"However, in the case of this star, we instead detected a completely unexpected and exceptionally beautiful multi-ringed dust disk.
"When we saw this multi-ringed disk for the first time, we knew we had to try and see if we could detect a planet within it, so we quickly asked for follow-up observations," Dr Ginski said.
Speaking to RTÉ's News At One, Dr Ginski said the team wants to understand how the planet is interacting and moving within its system.
"Eventually, what we want to do is re-observe that system with even more powerful telescopes," he said.
Dr Ginski said the planet's name comes from a survey programme run at Leiden University that tries to figure out if planets move around stars at different ages.
He conceded that the name WISPIT 2b is "probably better" than the catalogue name for the planet, which he said was a really long number.
The study was led by an early career PhD student, Richelle van Capelleveen from Leiden University and co-led by a graduate student team at University of Galway.
The research findings were co-authored by Dr Ginski and three Physics graduates students who are specialising in Astrophysics at University of Galway.
It is only the second time a confirmed planet has been detected at this early evolutionary stage around a young version of our Sun.
The first one was discovered in 2018, by a research team also involving Dr Ginski.
The planet was captured in near infrared light, the type of view that someone would see when using night-vision goggles, as it is still glowing and hot after its initial formation phase.
Watch: University of Galway researchers help discover new planet
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The team at Leiden University and the University of Galway captured a spectacular clear image of the young proto-planet embedded in a disk gap.
They also confirmed that the planet is orbiting its host star.
The planet was further detected in visible light by a team from the University of Arizona using a specially designed instrument, with those findings indicating that the planet is still actively accreting gas as it is forming its atmosphere.
Dust and gas-rich disks around young stars are the birth cradles of planets.
They can look quite spectacular with many different structures such as rings and spiral arms, which researchers believe are related to planets forming within them.
The disk around WISPIT 2b has a radius of 380 astronomical units, about 380 times the distance between Earth and the Sun.
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Ms van Capelleveen said, who led the study, said: "Discovering this planet was an amazing experience – we were incredibly lucky."
Chloe Lawlor, a PhD student in physics with a specialisation in astrophysics at the University of Galway, said: "I feel incredibly fortunate to be involved in such an exciting and potentially career-defining discovery.
"WISPIT 2b, with its position within its birth disk, is a beautiful example of a planet that can be used to explore current planet formation models. I am certain this will become a landmark paper, owing particularly to the work of Richelle van Capelleveen and her exceptional team."
Jake Byrne, an MSc student at University of Galway, said he "could hardly believe it was a real detection" when he first saw the image of the "remarkable discovery".
"It's a big one - that’s sure to spark discussion within the research community and advance our understanding of planet formation."
Dan McLachlan, also an MSc student at the university, said: "It was such a mind-blowing thing to be a part of.
"I feel so well treated by the University of Galway physics department and especially my supervisor Dr Christian Ginski to have provided me with the opportunity to be part of such an exciting project."
Additional reporting PA
