Astronomers Discover Cosmic Teenager

A new US space telescope has helped astronomers find what many are saying is the youngest planet ever observed. Astronomers using the US Spitzer Space Telescope were observing a group of young stars in the Milky Way galaxy when they "found intriguing evidence" that one of the stars may have a very young planet.

"We were astonished at these latest images from the Spitzer telescope," said University of Wisconsin astronomer Ed Churchwell. "The images show unmistakable, telltale signs of youth." He said it became obvious just how young the planet is when images revealed that it was straying very close to a large, nearby star. "The other, older planets can be seen warning the young planet not to go any closer to the star," said Churchwell. "But the young planet pays them no attention and gets burned by the star's hot surface," he said, adding that the planet seems to have been moving to a beat emanating from what appear to be headphones wrapped around its upper half, "which may have been responsible for it not being able to hear the older planets' repeated warnings." Churchwell said that two older planets can be seen "scolding" the younger planet for its misbehavior, leading to speculation that the younger planet was "about to be grounded for a very, very long time."