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The Lower Centaurus-Crux association, home to the newly identified Jupiter-sized objects. Characterized by its abundance of blue stars, it is situated 385 light-years away from Earth.(Image credit: Roberto Mura, Public Domain)Share this article 0Join the conversationFollow usAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleSubscribe to our newsletter
A novel class of celestial body, recently detected by the James Webb telescope, is moving closer to confirmed existence, according to a fresh study.
While examining a vast stellar nursery in the southern sky, astronomers have pinpointed two sets of “rogue” Jupiter-like entities that bear resemblance to peculiar paired planets previously observed by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). These planetary duos, which traverse the cosmos seemingly detached from any stellar anchor, reside in a different sector of the Milky Way than JWST’s initial findings, indicating that these enigmatic entities might indeed represent a new category of celestial objects. Nevertheless, definitive confirmation awaits further investigation.
“The prospect of discovering distinct types of planets has always captivated us,” stated Dante Minniti, a professor of astrophysics at Universidad Andrés Bello University in Chile and a co-author of the recent research, in an email to Live Science.
Free-floating planets (FFPs) are defined as “rogue” exoplanets not gravitationally tethered to a star. Such unusual bodies are prevalent throughout the universe. Observations from space-based telescopes, particularly JWST, have unveiled hundreds of FFPs across numerous star-forming regions, or nebulae. NASA estimates that solo rogue planets could potentially outnumber stars in the Milky Way by a ratio of 20 to 1.
In contrast, binary FFPs, consisting of two rogue exoplanets orbiting each other, appear to be considerably less common. A specific subgroup has garnered significant attention: Jupiter-mass binary objects, or “JuMBOs.” These binary configurations of widely spaced, planet-like entities range from 0.7 to 30 times the mass of Jupiter.
A jumbo-size mystery
In 2023, JWST revealed approximately 40 candidate JuMBOs within the Orion Nebula, a stellar nursery located in the constellation Orion. Their identification sparked intrigue, as such planetary pairs challenged established theories of planetary formation. However, subsequent studies have cast doubt on their existence, including a 2024 re-evaluation that suggested many of the presumed planetary duos were, in fact, distant stars.
Despite these developments, Minniti remained committed to searching for more conclusive pairs of exoplanets and low-mass cosmic bodies. His investigation also included brown dwarfs, often referred to as “failed stars,” which possess greater mass than planets but are insufficient in size to sustain stable nuclear fusion.
Rather than revisiting the Orion Nebula, Minniti and his associates directed their attention to a different star-forming region: the Lower Centaurus-Crux (LCC) association, which “spans hundreds of square degrees across the Southern sky,” he noted.
This association comprises over 100 young, massive blue stars that move in unison through space without being gravitationally bound. Objects within the LCC association are, on average, approximately 15 million years old, according to Claudio Cáceres, an associate professor of physical sciences at Andrés Bello University and the lead author of the new study. Exoplanets of this age are still considered nascent, and at longer wavelengths, “they are more luminous than their older counterparts,” he explained in an email to Live Science.
A new type of object?
Initially, Cáceres and his team compiled an extensive database of images of the LCC association by cross-referencing two distinct data sets. The first consisted of archival near-infrared photographs captured by the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Paranal Observatory in Chile. The second data set comprised visible-light images acquired by the European Space Agency’s Gaia survey.
One of the recently identified pairs of Jupiter-sized celestial objects, designated A and B. (C indicates a potential third member of this group, though its inclusion remains highly tentative.) The left image originates from archival infrared observations by the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy, while the right image is from visible-light observations by the Gaia telescope.
(Image credit: Cáceres et al. (2026))
The researchers meticulously examined the data for faint cosmic entities that might be planets. Out of the approximately 9,000 identified low-mass candidates, only about 400 were confirmed to belong to the LCC association, exhibiting movement patterns consistent with mathematical predictions. Minniti remarked that the team then “inspected the candidates one by one carefully in order to find faint companions that could be characterized.”
Their analysis, detailed in a paper published on April 24 in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, brought to light 17 binary object systems. Among these, only two—dubbed VVVX-FFP-001 and VVVX-FFP-007—consist of pairs of planet-sized objects, sharing several characteristics with JuMBOs.
Both systems contain two objects, each with a mass under 13 times that of Jupiter—specifically, approximately 12 and eight times Jupiter’s mass for VVVX-FFP-001 and VVVX-FFP-007, respectively. Furthermore, both are widely separated; the distances between the members of VVVX-FFP-001 and VVVX-FFP-007 are three and 180 times the distance between the sun and Neptune, respectively.
Despite these commonalities, Cáceres refrains from labeling the newly discovered objects as JuMBOs, noting that the term has not yet gained widespread acceptance in academic literature. “I personally prefer free-floating planetary-mass binaries,” he stated.
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While the new discoveries lend support to the existence of JuMBOs, they also suggest that FFP pairs are uncommon, representing merely 2% of rogue planets within the LCC association, according to Cáceres. Although this figure is substantially lower than the 9% fraction observed for Orion Nebula JuMBO candidates, it aligns with the proportion of paired “cold” objects, such as brown dwarfs, found elsewhere. This alignment implies that the Orion Nebula sample might have included misidentified members.
Moreover, Minniti posited that some FFP pairs might be “tight binaries” with close orbital separations. He suggested that such planets could potentially maintain liquid water due to the heat generated by their companions’ gravitational influences. This could render them habitable, Cáceres added, “even when there is no star. … This is very interesting because these binary planets may transport life through different regions of the Galaxy.”
The research team intends to continue their investigation of these objects using advanced instruments, such as the ESO’s Very Large Telescope. “These observations will help to better characterize the whole sample of low-mass binary objects,” Minniti concluded.
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