Rogue Planet Observed with Unusual Accretion Behavior
Scientists debate whether rogue planets form like stars or are ejected, as their origin remains unresolved between star-like formation and ejection-from-birth-system hypotheses.
Using the X-shooter spectrograph on European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, astronomers detected brightening and by August 2025 the planet's accretion surged about eight times, revealing water vapour and magnetic activity.
The result blurs the star–planet boundary by showing star-like accretion behaviour in a planetary-mass object, providing rare clues about planetary evolution and formation theories, study co-author Belinda Damian said.
For the first time, astronomers observed the first accretion burst in a planet-mass object, while European Southern Observatory's Extremely Large Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope will enable future surveys to detect many free-floating planets.
4 weeks ago