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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Science
Hannah Devlin Science correspondent

Discovery of ‘Jumbos’ may herald new astronomical category

The inner Orion Nebula and Trapezium Cluster as seen with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb space telescope.
A long-wavelength image of the inner Orion Nebula and Trapezium cluster taken by the James Webb space telescope. Photograph: Nasa, ESA, CSA/Mark McCaughrean and Sam Pearson

Dozens of planet-sized objects have been discovered in the Orion Nebula via observations that could herald the existence of a new astronomical category.

The free-floating entities, which have been named Jupiter-mass binary objects, or Jumbos, appear in spectacular images taken by the James Webb space telescope. The objects are too small to be stars, but also defy the conventional definition of a planet because they are not in orbit around a parent star.

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