A new planet has been discovered by the astronomers that looks like Jupiter. This alien planet may provide answers about how our solar system came into existence. It is called 51 Eridani b and 20 million years old.
According to astronomical standards, the new Jupiter-like planet is an infant. 51 Eridani b was discovered by the Gemini Planet Imager or GPI.
This new alien planet has a strong presence of methane. Moreover, water was also detected by the spectrometer instrument of GPI.
In the past, there have been many alien solar systems discovered that look like our solar system with giant Jupiter-like planets revolving around their stars.
"Previous search methods couldn't find systems like our own, with small, rocky worlds close to their star and large, gas giants at large distances like Jupiter and Saturn," James Larkin co-author, the University of California, Los Angeles said.
51 Eridani b is 96 light years from Earth and it is the first planet discovered using GPI. It is mounted to the Gemini South Telescope which is 27 foot long in Chile.
"51 Eri b is the first young planet that probably looks like Jupiter did billions of years ago, making it currently our most important corner-piece of the planet formation jigsaw puzzle," Travis Barman co-author from University of Arizona revealed in a statement.
The new alien planet which looks like our own Jupiter is 600 times in mass compared to Earth. It has to be seen if 51 Eridani b can really provide answers about our solar system.