WASHINGTON (AFP) - Astronomers using the Hubble space telescope said they had discovered the oldest-known planet, a Jupiter-sized body billions of years older than the Earth orbiting a pair of burned-out stars.

The planet lies at the core of the ancient globular star cluster M4, located 5,600 light-years away in the constellation of Scorpius, the US space agency NASA said.

Astronomers estimate it was formed 13 billion years ago -- long before the Earth or its sun existed -- and has a mass about 2.5 times the mass of Jupiter.

The planet's existence has been the object of debate since its star was first discovered in 1988 in an area of the Milky Way galaxy thought to be too old for planets to have formed. A team of researchers using Hubble data were recently able to confirm its status as a planet and measure its mass.


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Great article. Thanks Al!

What was interesting for me in this article was the mass of the planet they discovered - it is 2.5 times heavier than Jupiter. I recall few articles discussing bodies like that. They are neither stars nor planets. Since they are so large and heavy the gravity causes the core to gradually colapse, but they are not large enought to ignite fusion reactions so they stay in this state forever - they are to hot to harbor life, but too cold to be stars...
Interesting, isn't it...

Very interesting. I was amazed by the age of this planet

one of the reasons I like this forum ... is the Astronomy and planet stuff that you great guy put ...
once again ... Thanks ((Al)) ... very cool