‘Youngest planet’ flouts theory of formation

More geekness from one who is a geek about space stuff. Namely me.

An infant planet just a million years old is puzzling astrophysicists – it is simply too young to exist, according to the standard model of planet formation.

Evidence for this precocious planet comes in the form of infrared radiation from the Taurus Molecular Cloud, about 400 light years away, detected by NASA’s Spitzer space telescope.

The really cool thing about this is that it makes the possibility of other Earth-like planets a more real possibility, as these larger planets get to act like shields against things like comets, asteroids, and such. The article also puts the formation of Jupiter-sized planets in thousands – and not millions – of years. Now that is cool!