Scientists have discovered a giant planet orbiting a tiny red dwarf star, something they believed wasn t even possible. The planet, TOI-6894b, is about the size of Saturn but orbits a star just a fifth the mass of our Sun. This challenges long-standing ideas about how big planets form, especially around small stars. Current theories can't fully explain how such a planet could have taken shape. Even more fascinating, this cold planet may have a rare kind of atmosphere rich in methane or even ammonia something we've never seen in an exoplanet before.

Scientists have discovered a giant planet orbiting a tiny red dwarf star, something they believed wasn t even possible. The planet, TOI-6894b, is about the size of Saturn but orbits a star just a fifth the mass of our Sun. This challenges long-standing ideas about how big planets form, especially around small stars.

      • Rhaedas
        5•6 days ago

        Possible, measuring the orbit will determine that likelihood. The article gives a few other formation possibilities as well. Finding a few other systems like this will help narrow down what exactly happened here. It doesn’t seem that impossible to me, not like the title implies, given that while the star is low mass for a star, it’s still a large mass, and the planet isn’t that huge (50% less mass than Saturn despite being a bit larger in size).

        This just sounds like an extension of our understanding of how things are in the universe similar to pre-Voyager thoughts on what they’d find from our own system’s planets and moons. What we found was each place was unique with its own fascinating discoveries and not “just another rock”. Seems we’re finding that out for other solar systems as well.