Astronomers have confirmed the youngest known exoplanet ever detected, a giant world less than 1 million years old that is still gathering material from the disc of gas and dust around its newborn star. Named Elias 2-24 b, the planet is roughly as massive as Jupiter and lies about 450 light-years from Earth.
Its extreme youth is what makes the discovery significant. Earth is about 4.5 billion years old, making Elias 2-24 b more than 4,500 times younger.
