{"id":315785,"date":"2026-04-09T08:57:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T03:27:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=315785"},"modified":"2026-04-09T08:57:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T03:27:36","slug":"mystery-giant-forbidden-planet-has-been-found-and-scientists-are-baffled-news-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/09\/mystery-giant-forbidden-planet-has-been-found-and-scientists-are-baffled-news-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"Mystery giant ‘forbidden planet’ has been found – and scientists are baffled | News Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n\t\t\t<\/div>
An artist\u2019s conception of the gas giant planet TOI-5205 b orbiting a small, cool red dwarf star (Picture: Katherine Cain\/Carnegie Science\/Cover Media)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Astronomers have discovered a novel \u2018forbidden\u2019 giant planet that just isn’t much smaller than its star.<\/p>\n

The planet, TOI-5205 b, has been studied using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). <\/p>\n

Researchers say the findings could reshape understanding of how such worlds develop within the adolescence of a star.<\/p>\n

The study, published this week in The Astronomical Journal, was led by Caleb Ca\u00f1as of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and included Shubham Kanodia of Carnegie Science.<\/p>\n

TOI-5205 b is roughly the dimensions of Jupiter but orbits a relatively small, cool star. <\/p>\n

Such systems are sometimes described as \u2018forbidden\u2019 because current theories struggle to elucidate how such large planets can form so near low-mass stars.<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\tJoin for all of the newest stories\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
\n

Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates<\/strong> newsletter or get Breaking News <\/strong>alerts the moment it happens. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

\t\t\t\t\t

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to an online
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbrowser that
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsupports HTML5
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo<\/a><\/p><\/video>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

When the planet passes in front of its host star \u2013 an event often called a transit \u2013 it blocks about 6% of the star\u2019s light. By analysing this light with spectrographs, astronomers can determine the chemical composition of the planet\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Observations of three transits revealed a surprising result.<\/p>\n

The team found that the planet\u2019s atmosphere comprises a lower concentration of heavy elements \u2013 often called \u2018metallicity\u2019 in astronomy \u2013 than each Jupiter and its own host star. <\/p>\n

This makes it unlike any giant planet studied to this point.<\/p>\n

Methane and hydrogen sulphide were also detected within the atmosphere, though these findings were less unexpected.<\/p>\n

To raised understand the outcomes, researchers used computer models to estimate the planet\u2019s internal composition. <\/p>\n

These suggested the planet as an entire could also be far richer in heavy elements than its outer atmosphere indicates.<\/p>\n

\u2018We observed much lower metallicity than our models predicted for the planet\u2019s bulk composition, which is calculated from measurements of a planet\u2019s mass and radius. <\/p>\n

\u2018This means that its heavy elements migrated inward during formation and now its interior and atmosphere should not mixing,\u201d Kanodia explained. <\/p>\n

\u2018In summary, these results suggest a really carbon-rich, oxygen-poor planetary atmosphere.\u2019<\/p>\n

Planets form from discs of gas and dirt that surround young stars. While giant planets are thought to emerge from these discs, systems like TOI-5205 b challenge existing models.<\/p>\n

The research forms a part of the \u2018Red Dwarfs and the Seven Giants\u2019 programme, which is using JWST to review similar systems \u2014 sometimes known as GEMS, or giant exoplanets around M-dwarf stars.<\/p>\n

Further observations of TOI-5205 b and similar systems are expected to assist make clear how these so-called \u201cforbidden\u201d worlds come into being.<\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/use><\/svg>MORE: Euphoria season 3 is almost here \u2013 and the makeup behind the show has finally landed within the UK<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/use><\/svg>MORE: Houston, we now have a performance problem \u2014 why men can\u2019t get erections in space<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/use><\/svg>MORE: Donald Trump claims \u2018Space Force\u2019 is watching Iran in latest rambling post<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tComment now<\/title>\n<\/use><\/svg><\/span>
\n\t\t\tComments<\/span>
\n\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\tAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/title>\n<\/use><\/svg><\/span>
\n\t\t\t\tAdd as preferred source<\/span>
\n\t\t\t<\/section>\n
\n
\n

Puzzles Newsletter<\/h4>\n

Get your favourite puzzles after they are able to play on the web site sent on to you each day and track your day by day streak!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An artist\u2019s conception of the gas giant planet TOI-5205 b orbiting a small, cool red dwarf star (Picture: Katherine Cain\/Carnegie Science\/Cover Media) Astronomers have discovered a novel \u2018forbidden\u2019 giant planet that just isn’t much smaller than its star. The planet, TOI-5205 b, has been studied using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Researchers say the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":315786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20691],"tags":[6788,8295,5028,818,395,3136,3275,627],"class_list":["post-315785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-baffled","tag-forbidden","tag-giant","tag-mystery","tag-news","tag-planet","tag-scientists","tag-tech"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315785"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":315788,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315785\/revisions\/315788"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}