Indian American student discovers Jupiter-like planet

Washington, Aug 14: An international team of astronomers, including an Indian-American PhD student, has discovered a Jupiter like exoplanet outside earth's solar system just a 100 light years away. Researchers including Rahul I. Patel, a PhD student in Physics & Astronomy Department of Stony Brook University, New York, are calling the exoplanet a "young Jupiter" because it shares many characteristics of Jupiter. A paper outlining the full findings is published in Science. The finding could serve as a decoder ring for astronomers to understand how planets formed around the sun as it provides an opportunity to look at younger star systems in the earlier phase of development, according to a media release. Called 51 Eridani b, the exoplanet is the 'faintest' one on record, and also shows the strongest methane signature ever detected on an alien planet, which should yield additional clues as to how the planet formed.