Astronomers Photograph New Planet or Star

An astronomer at Penn State University is not certain whether the latest discovery in outer space is a planet or a failed star.

Using the powerful Hubble Space Telescope, Kevin Luhman headed an international team that photographed an object 12 times the size of Jupiter, the European Space Agency reports.

Named CHXR 73B, it is one of the smallest objects ever seen around a normal star beyond our sun, and could either be a planet or a failed star.

The diminutive object is located 19.5 billion miles from its red dwarf sun, which is approximately 200 times farther than Earth is from its sun.

Astronomers estimate its age at 2 million years, making it a youngster compared to our sun, which is 4.6 billion years old.

New, more sensitive telescopes are finding smaller and smaller objects of planetary-mass size, says Luhman. These discoveries have prompted astronomers to ask the question, are planetary-mass companions always planets?

The Hubble Space Telescope is a joint project between NASA and the European Space Agency.