A Giant Planet and a Small Star Are Shaking Up Conventional Cosmological Theory
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Summary
An international research team has discovered a large planet, named TOI-6894b, orbiting a small star, which poses a contradiction to current theories on planetary formation.
TOI-6894 is approximately 40% smaller than the previous record for the smallest star with a planet of this size, which suggests the planet formation process may not follow the same pattern for all stars.
The commonly-accepted theory, known as core-accumulation theory, proposes that an area of dust and rocks, or protoplanetary disk, forms around a star and this material gathers together to form the cores of planets.
A more massive gas planet forms as gas accumulates around the core.
However, a small star is likely to have a smaller protoplanetary disk, which means the nucleus needed to create a giant gas planet may not grow sufficiently in size.
