Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Space
Space
Science
Keith Cooper

Giant planet or 'failed star?' Newfound mystery world blurs the lines

An artist's impression of Gaia-4b orbiting its star, tracing the shape of its orbit.

One of the largest exoplanets to be found orbiting a relatively low-mass star has been discovered, thanks to the way the planet's gravity drags its star around on its journey through space.

The planet is the fourth world to be spotted in data from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission, which was designed to map a billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy, cataloguing their masses, luminosities, temperatures and motions through space.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.