The star CI Tau is so young that it still retains a disk of circumstellar gas and dust, researchers said. CI Tau b orbits the star CI Tau once every nine days. "This result is unique because it demonstrates that a giant planet can form so rapidly that the remnant gas and dust from which the young star formed, surrounding the system in a Frisbee-like disk, is still present," said Lisa Prato of Lowell Observatory in the US. By PTI | Posted 6 hoursWashington: Astronomers have discovered a giant planet, at least eight times larger than Jupiter, that orbits a 2 million-year-old star about 450 light years from Earth, contradicting a long-standing idea that larger planets take longer to form. Johns-Krull said the team has examined about half of the young stars in the Taurus-Auriga survey sample, and the data from several of these suggest that more planets may be found.

Source: Mid-Day May 27, 2016 05:33 UTC