Third Protoplanet HD 169142 b Confirmed by Researchers

Researchers from the University of Liège and Monash University have confirmed the existence of a third protoplanet, HD 169142 b, using data from the SPHERE instrument of the European Southern Observatory. The protoplanet is located in the disk of gas and dust surrounding HD 169142, a star 374 light years from our solar system. The discovery was made possible by advanced image processing tools developed by the PSILab of the University of Liège. The protoplanet is still gathering material and is buried in a significant amount of dust, which could be in the form of a circumplanetary disk. Further characterization of the protoplanet could be obtained through future observations with the James Webb Space Telescope.