Europeans astronomers discovered a gas giant exoplanet 310 light-years from Earth in the constellation Centaurus around the sun-like star HD 114082.

Exoplanet HD 114082 b, only 15 million years old, is the youngest of its kind. scientists managed to determine its size and weight. Although its diameter is roughly that of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, its mass is, oddly enough, eight times that of Jupiter.

The above characteristics are of concern to scientists, as they do not agree with the models of the formation of planets in the Universe that have been widely used so far. A possible explanation for such a large mass for such a young gas planet is that, unlike Jupiter, it has an unusually large, solid and therefore heavy core.

The corresponding publication in the journal on astronomy and astrophysics “Astronomy & Astrophysics” was made by researchers led by Olga Zakozay from the German Astronomical Institute. Max Planck in Heidelberg and the Central Astronomical Observatory of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv. “Compared to currently accepted models, HD 114082 b is about two to three times denser for a young gas giant with a lifetime of only 15 million years,” Zakozay said.

The average density of the gaseous exoplanet in question is about twice that of Earth, which is really remarkable given that our own planet is rocky, with an iron-nickel core and is not made up of hydrogen and helium, the lightest elements in the universe. ., of which Jupiter and other exoplanet gas giants are almost entirely composed.

Astronomers from around the world have discovered more than 5,000 confirmed exoplanets, of which about 15% are gas giants with masses at least comparable to Jupiter. To date, only three young gas giant exoplanets with an age of up to 30 million years have been found.

^{Source: APE-MEB}