Astronomers Confirm Elias 2-24 b as Youngest Known Exoplanet
A Jupiter-sized planet less than one million years old is challenging current theories of planet formation.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
An artist's rendering of Elias 2-24 b
Photograph: Mashable (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Elias 2-24 b has been confirmed as the youngest exoplanet known, with an age under one million years.
- The planet is approximately Jupiter-sized and orbits its star at a distance 10 times greater than Jupiter orbits the Sun.
- Elias 2-24 b is still within its natal disk of dust and gas, indicating it is actively forming.
- This discovery challenges existing models of planet formation, particularly concerning the rapid creation of giant planets far from their host stars.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 7 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 11 of the 18 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
42/100
Craft
61/100
Hype
41/100
18 sources · methodology
Astronomers have identified Elias 2-24 b as the youngest exoplanet discovered, with an age of less than one million years. This Jupiter-sized world is situated approximately 450 light-years from Earth and remains embedded within its natal disk of dust and gas, suggesting it is still in the process of formation. The discovery challenges current theories regarding the rapid formation of giant planets at significant distances from their stars.
Disagreement on planet's orbital distance
Mashable reports that Elias 2-24 b orbits its star 10 times farther than Jupiter circles the Sun. In contrast, the digest from Merca2.es states the planet is within its home album, and the digest from scinexx.de notes its location in a conspicuous gap. The digest from Boing Boing states the planet orbits a star 453 light-years from Earth, while Mashable states it is 450 light-years away.
What the coverage left out
None of the left-rated or centre-rated reports mention the specific distance of 453 light-years from Earth that was reported in the digest from Boing Boing.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 1 time, most recently on 17 Sept 2026, 16:00, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
2 rated outlets
- The left-rated reports highlighted the discovery of the youngest exoplanet, Elias 2-24 b, and its age of less than one million years. Both Mashable and Boing Boing noted that the planet is still within its natal disk of dust and gas. Mashable's full report detailed the use of NASA-funded archives from the W. M. Keck Observatory's coronagraph to confirm the detection, quoting Lucas Cieza on the galaxy churning out new stars and planets and Andrea Bernardi on the planet's behaviour. Mashable also discussed future telescopes like NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
Centre
4 rated outlets
- Centre-rated reports focused on Elias 2-24 b being the youngest known planet, with an age under one million years, and its implications for planet-formation models. Phys.org and NASA Science reported that the planet is still whirling in its natal disk of dust and gas, quoting Lucas Cieza on the struggle of current models to explain previous record holders and Andrea Bernardi on the planet being found within gaps it carves. Science Daily noted the planet's surprisingly rapid formation challenges leading theories. Space.com mentioned the "newborn" world was spotted in old data archives.
Right
1 rated outlet
- The single right-rated report, a digest from Kronen Zeitung, stated that astronomers confirmed a celestial body less than a million years old as the most recent known planet. It noted that Elias 2-24 b is still swirling around in its birth-related dust and gas disk, using data from archives funded by NASA.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Astronomers Confirm Elias 2-24 b as Youngest Known Exoplanet?
- Of the 7 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 29% are rated left, 57% are rated centre, 14% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 18. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Astronomers Confirm Elias 2-24 b as Youngest Known Exoplanet left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 7 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Astronomers Confirm Elias 2-24 b as Youngest Known Exoplanet biased?
- Astronomers Confirm Elias 2-24 b as Youngest Known Exoplanet is one event reported by 18 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which outlets covered Astronomers Confirm Elias 2-24 b as Youngest Known Exoplanet?
- 18 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What is Elias 2-24 b?
- Elias 2-24 b is a Jupiter-sized exoplanet confirmed to be less than one million years old, making it the youngest known planet. It is still within its natal disk of dust and gas, indicating it is actively forming.
- How far away is Elias 2-24 b?
- Elias 2-24 b is located approximately 450 light-years from Earth. One report mentioned a distance of 453 light-years.
- Why is this discovery significant?
- The discovery of Elias 2-24 b challenges current planet-formation models. Its rapid formation as a giant planet so far from its star suggests that existing theories may be incomplete and require revision.
- How was Elias 2-24 b discovered?
- The planet was confirmed using archival data from the W. M. Keck Observatory's coronagraph, which is funded by NASA. Astronomers reviewed observations from 2018 and 2020 to identify the planet within its star's dusty disk.
Read it at the source
18 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
2Centre
4- Astronomers just found the youngest known planet ever (opens Science Daily in a new tab)
Science Daily — is Science Daily biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Scientists find youngest exoplanet on record — a 'newborn' named Elias (opens Space in a new tab)
- Newfound 'baby' planet smashes record for youngest known world (opens Phys.org in a new tab)
- Newfound ‘Baby’ Planet Smashes Record for Youngest Known World - NASA Science (opens NASA (Source) in a new tab)
NASA (Source) — is NASA (Source) biased? Our profile of this outlet
Right
1Not rated
11- Astronomers just found the youngest planet ever seen—and it's still taking shape (opens StarLust in a new tab)
StarLust
- Scientists Discovered the Youngest Exoplanet so Far and Named It Elias (opens Klix in a new tab)
- Young planet confirmed — could reveal the secrets of the Solar System’s formation (opens todaypress.tv in a new tab)
todaypress.tv
- Astronomers Discover the Youngest Planet Ever Seen (opens Knowridge Science Report in a new tab)
Knowridge Science Report — is Knowridge Science Report biased? Our profile of this outlet
- They Confirm the Youngest Planet: Elias 2-24 B Is Less than a Million Years Old (opens Merca2.es in a new tab)
- Peer of Humanity: Scientists Have Discovered the Youngest Planet in the Milky Way (opens Unknown in a new tab)
Unknown
- Astronomers confirm the youngest planet ever found; Less than 1 million years old (opens Tech Explorist in a new tab)
Tech Explorist — is Tech Explorist biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Baby Planet: Keck Observatory Has Discovered Recent Known Exoplanets (opens scinexx.de in a new tab)
scinexx.de — is scinexx.de biased? Our profile of this outlet
Show 3 more
- The youngest exoplanet confused astronomers with its age (opens Журнал The Universemagazine Space Tech in a new tab)
- Youngest Exoplanet Yet Discovered Found Hiding in Keck Observatory Data Astronomers confirm a giant planet still forming around its young star, offering a rare glimpse into how planetary systems take shape (opens Howzit Kohala in a new tab)
Howzit Kohala
- Youngest Exoplanet Yet Discovered Found Hiding in Keck Observatory Data – W. M. Keck Observatory (opens keckobservatory.org in a new tab)
keckobservatory.org
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