Giant Planet Challenges Planet Formation Theory

Giant Planet Challenges Planet Formation Theory
Night view of an auxiliary telescope and three optical telescopes at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) on Sept. 15, 2008, in Paranal, some 715 miles north of Santiago, Chile. Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images
Chris Jasurek
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Astronomers have discovered a gas giant planet the size of Jupiter circling a star half the size of the sun—a combination, which current theories of planetary formations would say was impossible.

Astronomers at the University of Warwick describe the new star and planet in an article to be published by the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

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