Huge planet discovered around tiny red star challenges our understanding of solar systems

This artist's impression shows what the giant planet TOI-6894b might look like orbiting its red dwarf star. (Image credit: University of Warwick/Mark Garlick)

Scientists have discovered a colossal planet on which, according to the main theories of planet formation, life cannot exist.

A team of researchers has identified a massive planet, dubbed TOI-6894b, orbiting a low-mass red dwarf star about 241 light-years from Earth. The findings, published June 4 in the journal Nature Astronomy, add to a growing number of cosmic objects that challenge conventional models of planet formation.

“This is an exciting discovery,” study co-author Vincent Van Uylen, an astrophysicist at the Mallard Space Science Laboratory at University College London, said in a statement. “We don’t really understand how such a low-mass star can form such a massive planet! This is one of the goals of the search for more exoplanets.”