NASA · Thursday, September 17, 2026
Astronomers confirm youngest known planet in a dusty birth disk
The File desk · Sep 17, 2026, 2:12 PM UTC
Status
Confirmed from a NASA Science article dated Sept. 16, 2026, describing a study in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
NASA says astronomers have confirmed Elias 2-24 b as the youngest known planet — less than a million years old — using data from NASA-funded archives and the W. M. Keck Observatory coronagraph in Hawaii. The world is still inside its natal disk of dust and gas around the star Elias 2-24, about 450 light-years from Earth, and is roughly as massive as Jupiter. A NASA Science article dated Sept. 16 says a team led by Andrea Bernardi at Universidad Diego Portales published the result Wednesday in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Prior record holders cited in the piece were more than 5 million years old. The find sits in a disk gap, where planets are expected to carve paths as they form.
NASA says astronomers have confirmed Elias 2-24 b as the youngest known planet — less than a million years old — using data from NASA-funded archives and the W. M. Keck Observatory coronagraph in Hawaii.
The world is still inside its natal disk of dust and gas around the star Elias 2-24, about 450 light-years from Earth, and is roughly as massive as Jupiter.
A NASA Science article dated Sept. 16 says a team led by Andrea Bernardi at Universidad Diego Portales published the result Wednesday in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Prior record holders cited in the piece were more than 5 million years old.
The find sits in a disk gap, where planets are expected to carve paths as they form.
What is still unknown or disputed
- Exact age bounds under a million years, and follow-up observations, will firm up in the peer-reviewed paper’s methods section beyond the NASA summary.
Primary sources
Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.
Source 1
Newfound ‘Baby’ Planet Smashes Record for Youngest Known World
NASA Science · September 16, 2026
Astronomers have confirmed a world that’s less than a million years old as the youngest known planet… Called Elias 2-24 b… still whirling in its natal disk… about as massive as Jupiter… ~450 light-years from Earth.
https://science.nasa.gov/universe/newfound-baby-planet-smashes-record-for-youngest-known-world/